


Transitions:  The Vengeance of Jedikiah

by yinyang2261



Series: Transitions [15]
Category: The Tomorrow People (1973), The Tomorrow People (1992)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:20:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 40,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yinyang2261/pseuds/yinyang2261
Summary: With some of their number down or captured, the Tomorrow People continue to barely hold their own against their war with Jedikiah and his genetically altered medusas.  In desperation and against Federation protocol, Carol takes a group of telepaths off world to retrieve compounds necessary to pacify the medusas and retrieve medical data from an old adversary; Jedikiah continues his extreme mental interrogation of John.Part Three of the Jedikiah's War story arcThe Transitions storyline will cover events from March 1979 to June 1980
Series: Transitions [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/968190





	Transitions:  The Vengeance of Jedikiah

**Author's Note:**

> Story So Far: After the removal of the Sorson and Thargon conflict from the Earth system, the return of old friends, and defeating the combined might of the SIS, Doomsday Men, viopaths, and the Sogguth; the Tomorrow People have begun to settle into their new routines. Within these months, some have taken a sabbatical from Federation duties or a leave of absence from Tomorrow People responsibilities; and others have begun life changing personal projects and private reflections. Throughout these proceeding months; new telepaths and allies have been found, allowing for the reestablishment of a new Lab in Northern Scotland. Jedikiah also has returned to Earth, allying himself with individuals who are fearful of continued telepathic influence and committed themselves to service of the Sogguth, has continued to strategically move his pieces for his eventual showdown with the telepaths of Earth. Now, after months of preparation, Jedikiah commences with his long-term goal, to destroy the Tomorrow People and eventually, the Federation.

Toppeil, Germany  
Boswell Farm  
Sept 1979

The chaos at the Boswell farm was still in full swing when Tyso’s father had seen what was transpiring within the past minute; grabbing his shotgun and his dogs, he began to run when he heard his son’s inhuman scream. It hadn’t taken him long to see his two older children lain on the ground; Evergreen still in the throes of some kind of seizure, Tyso was unmoving. He saw Stephen being accosted by some creature; thinking that he was in the most immediate danger, Sylvester Boswell fired a direct shot at the medusa, causing it to splatter some of its inner biological contents on Stephen and around its immediate vicinity. He saw two more of the creatures and immediately fired off rounds, effectively killing them. He then realized the three other strangers who he immediately recognized as not being of this town, correctly assuming these trio were responsible in some way of his children’s current predicament.

“What have you done to my kids?” Mr. Boswell angrily yelled out as he pointed the weapon, aiming and getting ready to fire at them.

The three trespassers had already decided to drop the attack and proceeded to run back to their car to make an assumable quick getaway. Mr. Boswell made his decision and fired a shot at the trio. He immediately bent down and released his dogs, ordering them to attack. 

Hans continued to fire his stun gun at them, but realizing they were too far away, he proceeded to jaunt in front of the car. He stayed in his spot for only a few seconds before stepping out the way to prevent from getting run over. Hans fired another shot at the car, for all the good it would do. He quickly committed to memory what he noticed about the car and looked around, making sure there were no more medusas or these same strangers which Stephen and the others had been noticing in the village for the past few days. He heard a few more shots and looked in the direction where Mr. Boswell was, whom it appeared had taken it upon himself to kill the remaining two medusas. He quickly began to run back toward where Stephen and Mike were; both emanating panicked anxiety regarding their fallen friends and family. 

“How is he? What’s going on with Evergreen?” Mr. Boswell demanded as he came up on Stephen.

“They’re breaking out. C’mon Tyso, wake up,” Stephen demanded of his unconscious friend while still keeping an eye on his sister and Ann.

[TIM, are you able to hear me?]

Hans cried out telepathically.

|I can hear you, Hans|

TIM said.

[We got attacked by medusas and a few cronies. Evergreen and Ann are breaking out and Tyso is down! Is there any way to get them to the Lab?]

It was at that same moment when everyone turned to a new noise coming toward them. Looking back, they realized that at least one out of the two cars which had these pseudo-tourists were bearing down on them, attempting to run them down. Mr. Boswell lifted his rifle up, preparing to fire more rounds at his attackers, ignoring Stephen’s call to help with getting their friends out of the way. But realizing that his powers were still recovering from this latest medusa attack, he realized horrifically that there was absolutely nothing he could do physically in time. He heard the rifle shots as Mr. Boswell defended his position, and for a split second, it looked like his actions had worked; the driver seemed to jerk suddenly within the vehicle, obviously hit by Mr. Boswell’s aim. But the passenger then took the wheel for a bit while the driver too soon recovered and regained his control of the car, beginning to speed up and baring down on the telepaths in front.

Stephen was about to think of a prayer hoping for a quick and painless death when the car abruptly flipped on its side, like it had been a fly swatted by an invisible hand. The second car, which had taken a position from behind abruptly turned to avoid its leading car’s example, unexpectedly heading toward Hans. Hans panickily cried out that he couldn’t jaunt to avoid the car when it suddenly turned even more to the right, avoiding him, eventually crashing in the berm on the side of the road.

Mike was still tending to his sister when he began to see various objects, from bigger sized rocks to lying about small farming tools, anything which wasn’t bolted to anything solid was being thrown through the air, and directly at the attackers who were desperately trying to reconsolidate their actions. He was able to see in the distance that Warren and Kim had managed to arrive and were handling the intruders on the property.

“Mike!”

He quickly turned around and saw Autumn, Maeve and her twin sister Muirne coming up to him.

“You two are a sight for sore eyes,” Mike couldn’t help but react gratefully, before turning his attention back to his sister, who was still in the throes of her forced breakout.

Autumn quickly assessed the situation and told Maeve and Muirne what to do with their special powers to assist in keeping Ann from literally burning out from within. The twins hesitantly touched the young girl on either side of her temples, attempting to quell the rising pain. For a bit, they felt her telekinetic and telepathic force fighting against them; Autumn continued to guide the sisters in their healing abilities.

“What are you doing?” Mike demanded.

“It’s a specific way of keeping the telepathic parts of the brain passive while enhancing the non-telepathic parts of the whole body to remain balanced. Because of Maeve and Muirne’s unique abilities to strengthen their special powers as a whole, they should be able to maintain your sister for her jaunt back to the Lab,” Autumn said as she quickly wrapped a matter transporter belt around his younger sister.

Mike felt his heart panic at the sight of his sister going through the medusa-induced convulsions, fearful he was watching her die…wondering how his mum would take it.

Autumn quickly put a reassuring hand on Mike’s shoulder. “They’re all in good hands. We’re not letting Ann leave prematurely.” Before the concerned older brother could respond to her, she quickly got to her feet and proceeded to run in the direction Stephen and Mr. Boswell were at.

In another part of the property, Mr. Boswell watched as Warren and Kim used their telekinetic abilities to keep the attackers from even coming back on the property. The power observed, he felt was nothing more than pure and complete, these two powerful telepaths were giving back what for to these imbeciles who dared to come on his property and harm his family. He quickly turned around, automatically pointing his rifle toward the running noise that was quickly approaching him, but was physically stopped by Stephen, who ordered him to cease, as Autumn was one of his people.

Autumn quickly tossed Stephen her backpack which contained the matter transporter belts, ordering him to wrap them around Evergreen and Tyso. She dropped down to her knees and put her fingers on either side of the young girl’s temples, attempting to stabilize her. She used her learned meditation skills to keep from being distracted from the loud noise of conflict coming from where Kim and Warren were still engaged in conflict with the intruders.

Kim continued to telekinetically push the attackers back toward their car.

“They just don’t want to stop!” Kim yelled.

“Okay then, time to pull a bit of Three Stooges at them,” Warren said firmly.

Warren used his telekinesis to brutally shove two of the running attackers’ heads into each other’s, both dropping to the ground in dazed confusion. He looked at the other two who were physically close by and telekinetically raised a lone third attacker in the air, and forcefully threw the body at the last two standing, causing the trio to tumble to the ground in a heap of tangled arms and legs.

“Do you need help?” 

Hans had come running up to the two ATPs, since he had been closer to them when they had appeared.

“Go check on the others to make sure they can teleport Evergreen and Ann to the Lab. We’ll keep these goons occupied as long as possible,” Kim said as she used her telekinesis to again push them back toward their crashed vehicles.

Hans was about to comply when Warren released an incoherent and loud vocal noise, and telekinetically forced all five to violently slam against one of their vehicles, one person had even gone through one of its side windows and landed within. Hans was stuck in place, continuing to look on in shock at the brutality and violent way Warren was utilizing his telekinetic abilities. He watched with a bit of inner relief as the attackers, who seemed to have finally had enough of fighting against telepaths, had decided to err on the side of survival and quickly crammed into the one car their associate had been thrown in.

It’s like I’m watching some twisted perverted clown car comedy routine, Hans thought as he could see the physical bodies trying desperately to pile within the lone vehicle.

However, even as the car miraculously had started, their other car was suddenly lifted into the air, coming toward them like a projectile, striking the rear of the first car enough to cause it to lurch forward, the driver trying to balance the vehicle from side to side before finally and completely leaving the farm premises.

“Mein……Gott,” Hans could only say as he went over in his mind what he had just seen. He briefly had a personal thought, comparing what Warren and Kim did to the actions of characters of his favorite shows, The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. He was suddenly pulled by the two ATP’s, running and headed toward their fallen friends in the distance.

Warren: [[Autumn, is everything in place?]]

[[It is. The biological needles with the toxins weren’t in their bodies for all that long and the medusas didn’t have a chance to burn out. Maeve and Muirne are managing with Ann, but we must get to the Lab quickly. I know we can stabilize them more with TIM, Staarla, and Dr. Wilson helping us]]

Autumn said.

Kim: [[I’m not sure if we brought enough matter transporters. Are we able to take everyone?]]

[I can hear you Kim. I think you only brought enough for one more Sap]

Mike telepathically said.

Warren, Kim, and Hans finally reached their friends, breathing heavily from the strain of the recent few minutes. Kim looked at Mr. Boswell, Mr. Schumacher, and Ms. Bell. There would have to be a choice as to who would be able to go with their child immediately.

“We can get more matter transporters here, but all we have are one extra…”

“I believe Ms. Bell can go. I’m sure Sylvester and I can wait,” Mr. Schumacher said.

“Yes, you all go,” Mr. Boswell said. “I have to stay here and tell Tyso’s mother and brother what’s happened. Will there be a way to contact you or get to your place later?” Mr. Boswell asked.

Stephen quickly gave Mr. Boswell TIM’s contact number.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know if those attackers will be coming back. We will come back for you after we know for certain that Carol and Dana are okay and that it’s safe,” Warren said.

Hans, Stephen, and Mike immediately asked what had happened to their two other friends whom Warren had mentioned. 

Kim looked at them, anger and distress on her features. “The Hathaway’s house exploded and both Carol and Dana were there when it happened.

“We have to go to them!” Hans interjected.

“No! We go back to the Lab and save our friends. They’re of immediate concern. Elizabeth and the others have gone to Hampstead to check on them,” Stephen said firmly and decisively.

Warren nodded. “Stephen’s right. If we’re ready, we must leave now.”

[[Okay, we’ve programmed the matter transporters, TIM. Are you and Staarla ready to jaunt us?]]

Kim asked.

Both TIM and Staarla readily replied.

“Well, if having an added support from the Starbird and a group of the strongest teleporters doesn’t help, I suppose we’re all in trouble,” Mike distressingly muttered as he held on to his mom.

|Contact in three…two…one…|

Mr. Boswell and Mr. Schumacher watched the near dozen individuals disappear from their view.

“Those kids have a lot of responsibility to contend with,” Hans’s father remarked.

Mr. Boswell was quiet for a moment, looking at the spot where Tyso and Evergreen had only been just a second prior, before turning toward the house, leaving Mr. Schumacher to contend with his own worried thoughts.

***

Hampstead, London  
Former Hathaway Residence

The fire from the explosion which tore through the Hathaway residence had only been going for five minutes and already, the local fire department were on the scene. Elizabeth and Jennifer were panicked when they had arrived a few minutes prior, but neither of them could get a telepathic sense of Carol or Dana in the vicinity.

It took a lot for Jennifer to stay where she was, behind the quickly assembled safety barriers which the fire department had hastily put up to keep the neighbors from crossing into the heated battle zone. Hoses were turned on and steady streams of water were being aimed at a house which Jennifer had once called her home. 

Memories going up in smoke. I can’t believe it. Please don’t let mum and dad be in there.

Jennifer couldn’t help but have tears streaming down her face, Elizabeth immediately came to her and put her in a protective embrace, the young girl’s back facing away from where her childhood was. 

[Jennifer, Elizabeth…we found them. They jaunted to the cave where the Starbird is]

Andrew said with a joyous tone in his telepathic communication.

[How are they, Andrew?]

Elizabeth asked as she watched another fire engine come up and the firemen in charge demanding that people leave the immediate vicinity so they could do their job.

[They’re fine. I mean, they managed to bring their parents with them. It looks like the explosion got them but not too badly. Their faces have some soot and their clothes are burned a bit but we’re going to take them to the Lab once they’re able to recover enough to get back on their feet. TIM will jaunt them back in]

Andrew continued.

Elizabeth had thanked Andrew and shook Jennifer out of what she perceived to be a developing grief-stricken motion; but she suddenly moved out of her supporting hold, and simply gave her a nod of her head, confirming she had heard everything which Andrew and her had said to each other. Smiling with relief through her tear streaked face.

Jennifer took one last look at her home. Each flicker of flame and orders from the local firemen and police seemed to hammer in the fact that she could never come back to it again, at least not in its former state. She quickly felt this to be a metaphor of her family’s encounters with Jedikiah; and the relief she felt quickly grew into a disheartened and angry reaction.

“Jedikiah is going to pay for this,” Jennifer quietly seethed.

Elizabeth observed her younger friend, hearing her barely audible vow and the dark empathic tone she couldn’t help but send out.

“Come Jennifer, we should leave…before any of your neighbors realize you’re here. We don’t have time to answer their probable and curious questions.”

Jennifer nodded absently as she felt herself being led by the arm by Elizabeth, continuing to look back at a childhood place she used to feel safe in and call home.

***

Next Phase Foundation  
Frankfurt, Germany

“The power of these telepaths…I don’t understand why they’ve never utilized their abilities in such a combative manner until now,” Dr. Suarez wondered out loud.

Jedikiah continued to look at the video which both cars had been installed with, that had been in action at the Boswell Farm. “They have advanced telepaths, or ATP’s as they’re commonly known as. They tend to have more…aggressive ways of using their special powers.”

Dr. Suarez looked closely at the lone male and female, who seemed to be causing all the commotion and chaos her associates were experiencing. “They’re the same ones from Chicago. They seem to have recovered more quickly than we gave them credit for.”

“Yes, they have. No doubt due to the assistance of their biotronic computer. It would be much advantageous to acquire whatever medical and mechanical technology they have in their Lab, assuming they still have one,” Jedikiah said thoughtfully.

Dr. Suarez continued to observe the apparent raw and brutal power these ATP’s had, wondering if she could somehow have this specific level created in a lab.

“What are the odds of John surviving another extended session in the immersion tank, in his current state?” Jedikiah asked Dr. Suarez, prompting her out of her deep thought processes.

The female physician turned and gave the Tomorrow Person a clinical observation, checking the usual physical faculties such as pulse, the size of his eye pupils, blood pressure. The young man of his early twenties was only vaguely aware of what he had done earlier while under Jedikiah’s suggestion. She checked John’s brain activity on the monitor.

“I’m assuming you believe you could get more information from him, and you’re right. He is at a level to where you could coax anything from the telepath. You could put him in now, but my strong suggestion is for no more than twenty-four hours. Going beyond this limit could conceivably kill him. And if you’re wanting him to barely survive to put a crimp in your enemy’s long-term plans, I would keep this in mind,” Dr. Suarez stated.

Jedikiah nodded. “Go ahead and prepare to place him back in. Twenty-four hours is all I need, more than I need. Eris, you should prepare to save and transfer whatever equipment you have which you don’t want anyone to have privy to. I am confident the next few days will see some major changes in the status of your facility.”

Dr. Suarez ordered her associates to take the barely coherent John back to the immersion tank, looking at Jedikiah, who continued to maintained his hard-visual focus on the young man.

“Dr. Suarez…Eris, how well do you know your associates who’ve been working with you throughout this week?” Jedikiah questioned his associate, still trying to get used to calling her by her nickname.

“These specific associates of mine who have been working in this part of the facility, are completely loyal to the cause, which means they are loyal to me. We’ve been working side by side for almost seven years now. You need not worry, they can keep secrets,” Dr. Suarez explained.

Jedikiah nodded purposely. “This is good,” Jedikiah said as he regarded Dr. Suarez with a content smile. “I believe I’ll sleep good tonight, knowing the Tomorrow People’s anthill has been smashed, with them scurrying about in a chaotic, free for all panic…much like ants would do. I think we’ll leave them be for just a little while, as they figure out ways in which I will make them suffer some more.”

The physician scientist just quietly regarded Jedikiah, before taking her leave to prepare their captured telepath for more interrogation.

***

Havenshire Castle, Scotland  
The Lab

It was controlled chaos after the groups from Toppeil, Hampstead, and the Starbird cave reappeared in the Lab. The three groups had practically arrived within the same time span resulting in a Lab, which was just over three thousand square feet, to appear to be smaller and cramped, bustling with activity. Ann, Evergreen, and Tyso were jaunted directly into the medical portion of the Lab, with Autumn, Warren, Kim, Maeve, and Muirne accompanying their unconscious friends, who were dangerously close to expiring from this last confrontation with the medusas and members of Jedikiah’s attack team. It had been a long and rough night keeping the unconscious three stabilized. Only when their heartbeat, pulse, and breathing patterns stayed consistently within at least nominal range, did their families feel comfortable enough to even consider moving out of the medical area. Cots were placed in the upper right corner of the Lab, which could be used for any number of projects or events; this one being a place where immediate families could rest, while still staying within steps of their loved one, in case things took a turn for the worst. It had taken the remainder of the day and far into the night for Dr. Wilson to stabilize the threesome; however, Autumn, Warren, Kim, Maeve, and Muirne had to continually assist the physician by using their much stronger healing abilities to keep her patients on this side of life, taking turns throughout the evening. It was only later when Dr. Wilson was satisfied with how the unconscious teens were doing medically, that she dictated that just two ATPs would be needed at a time to keep the kids within normal medical specs. Kim was the first one to take a rest on the nearby couch in the Lab. It was going to be a long night.

There had been an intense reunion of the Hathaway family when they finally gathered in the Lab after their destruction of their home in Hampstead. It was literally of near miraculous luck that Penelope and Charles Hathaway had been wearing the matter transporter belts and that they were already programmed to have its wearer arrive somewhere on the Havenshire Estate. Dana recalled she had sensed something dreadful was about to happen in the home, her mind had automatically and telekinetically pushed the button on their matter transporters, just as the fiery explosion ripped through their home. While having arrived in the Starbird cave, they had managed to still get caught up in the flames, their clothes somewhat burned here and there and their faces covered with soot and slight first-degree burns. Dana couldn’t help but give Hans and Alexio a long and extended bearhug around their necks, thankful that their forgetfulness of leaving the transporters behind from a few days ago had enabled their parents to live through this nightmare.

Elizabeth and Stephen sat silently in one of Eli’s sitting rooms on the ground level of the castle. Both had insisted to stay awake to make sure everyone was as comfortable and tended to as they could. It felt unnaturally quiet, considering that there could always be some type of activity going on since they had moved in just over a month ago. Within that time, they had recently taken it upon themselves to personally bring Tyso’s parents and younger brother; along with Hans’s father and older brother to Havenshire. At the time they felt the threat to these families was strong enough to warrant these actions. However, Tyso’s uncle, who was the actual owner of his farm had refused to come along, citing his recent health issues, although he was confident that nothing would happen to him or his equally health-fragile wife…as long as “those telepaths” stayed away. 

“I’m wondering if Tyso’s uncle is right,” Elizabeth wondered quietly under her breath.

“What’s that Elizabeth?” Stephen said as he physically perked up.

Elizabeth looked at Stephen, saw the tiredness on his face and how it probably mirrored her own physical, mental, and emotional being.

“I was thinking back to what Tyso’s uncle had said, about us being responsible for the attack that happened on his farm.”

“We did what we could, Elizabeth. And the farm is mostly intact, we kept the battle within a small area of his property,” Stephen said.

“That’s not the point, Stephen. Are we a threat to everyone who is our ally? Jedikiah has waged his war against us, our families….do we have any idea how some of our non-telepathic friends are doing, like Chris or Professor Cawston? I realize we haven’t seen them for quite a while, but they have fought alongside us from time to time,” Elizabeth said worriedly.

“Well, I’ve called my mum and dad from a pay phone. Both have been living their lives like they usually do. I checked in on John’s father and he’s busy healing up from last month, going about life as usual. Andrew’s dad hasn’t had any unusual goings on in his neck of the woods. If anything, it’s probably my fault Jedikiah found us in Toppeil; all of us should’ve taken more precautions, considering what we knew what was going on at the time,” Stephen said.

“Stephen, you were able to keep our people and friends from dying from the attack this time around, and that’s the best news we’ve had all week. We take our victories where we can…don’t be too hard on yourself. This is the first attack where we actually have survivors fighting to stay alive, thank to you,” Elizabeth said gently to her friend of many years.

“As long as you’re not being too hard on yourself, Elizabeth. I know it feels like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, but you have support…I promise,” Stephen assured her.

“I know, and you’re right, Stephen,” Elizabeth said. “But I can’t help but take responsibility for the tragedy this had the potential to be. And what about Eli? We’re here, all of us, as his guests. I’ll have to admit, I took an unusual pleasure of knowing that we could have a place where it wasn’t just about the Lab. We Tomorrow People could have an area where we could go out and relax outside, work on our special powers to keep them strong…to have someone who really wanted and accepted us. What have we gotten Eli into? With everyone and everything we’ve had to fight from time to time, from aliens to governments…I’m not sure we totally thought this through when we moved in and took over his basement.”

Stephen chose his words thoughtfully in response to his friend’s concerns. “Are you saying we should leave? Just as we’ve gotten everything going? To be honest, it is a logical question to ask, but I wonder what would happen if we up and did leave and how it would affect our newer members. They’ve already been through as much as we had within the short span of when we first acquired our powers, and they’ve just barely started to settle into their roles and responsibilities. If we’re going to expand our kind, we’re going to have to maintain some kind of stable, major dwelling for when we have these newer breakouts. Just the fact that we have five telepaths within the span of a few months had confirmed this. And maybe, if there are enough telepaths, we might have to move to bigger facilities or acquire more in some way.” Stephen touched Elizabeth’s arm. “I got the impression that Eli knew exactly what he was getting into when he offered us to stay here as his extended guests. And not just because he knew a telepath in the concentration camp he was interned at and the experiences he suffered there as well; but because it just sounds like his nature, that he would want to help. I honestly think we really lucked out having him as our host, one who can see the bigger picture of our duty to this planet.”

“I’m sure you’re right Stephen, you make a sound argument. But we never expected a literal war being fought against us, especially from an enemy whom we long thought gone by now. Jedikiah seriously caught us with our knickers jammed up in our buttocks,” Elizabeth said.

“Blimey….’knickers jammed up in our buttocks.’” Stephen couldn’t help but release a welcome and authentic laugh. “You’ve been hanging around the neopaths too much. Let me guess, Alexio or Hans were practicing their…how did they put it…Englishisms, and you happened to hear that specific line, yeah?”

Elizabeth cracked a smile, also releasing a short laugh. “Yes, I think so. They try so hard to blend in with their presumed assumption of local pop culture slang.” 

Stephen’s smile almost immediately left when he remembered the topic they had been talking about not a minute before. “Elizabeth, I think we’re always going to have to fight some type of war with the Saps. Right now, the Tomorrow People are more of an urban myth at the most, probably spoken of in the highest and darkest corners of government echelons, like some government conspiracy theory. But eventually, they’re going to start realizing that we are the next step in our planet’s human evolution; and I wouldn’t be surprised if non-government entities find out about us as well. We’re going to have to prepare ourselves for that eventuality. It’s been easy so far because there have been so few of us, so we were all able to keep this secret from coming out. The more telepaths that breakout, the more chances that this secret will come to the level of hushed conversation, and then unofficial going’s on in the world, before finally people acknowledging that there are individuals out there that have…using Hans’s term…superheroes, or super-beings here. They’re going to be fearful. We’re continuously going to have to change our game plan and prepare for these eventualities. We’re going to have to be adaptable with how we settle things with whatever enemy we have the unfortunate pleasure of having to defend ourselves from.”

“I understand, Stephen. But that’s not my point. We’re not here to engage in lethal conflicts. We can’t. Literally, our genetic disposition prevents us from fighting in wars, prevents us from killing,” Elizabeth said with some frustration, which she immediately felt guilty for emotionally experiencing.

Stephen nodded. “Which is why we have to be better than the Saps. Be more creative, more thoughtful in our actions and planning, before events such as this have even a chance to happen. The only reason Jedikiah got the drop on us is because we weren’t ready. I’ll admit, we’re barely holding our own against him and he purposely hasn’t given us a chance to catch our breath. Truthfully, I’m surprised he’s been able to launch such…intricate attacks on us. It’s like he’s been having help, it’s the only way to explain the quantity of his attacks.”

Elizabeth intensely focused on Stephen; he seemed like such a different and mature person since coming back from Medcann 2. He had grown up and seemed to have a more specific focus when it came to Tomorrow People responsibilities. His recent training of the newest telepaths…or neopaths as they were wont to be named, was proof that he was more committed to their cause. She was seeing him in a whole new way.

“You’ve really come into your own, Stephen,” Elizabeth said in a frank and direct way.

Stephen felt his face flush with heat from this unexpected compliment.

“Had a lot of spare time on my hands the past few years,” Stephen said reservedly. “We will get through this Elizabeth. We’ll save Tyso, Evergreen, and Ann, we will find and rescue John, and we will pass proper judgment on Jedikiah once and for all.”

Elizabeth could hear the firm conviction in her friend’s voice, prompting her to nod her head in agreement with his declaration. “Yes, we will,” she said as she slowly got to her feet, extending her hand to him. “We should get down to the Lab and see how Dr. Wilson is taking care of our people.”

Stephen gave her a confident and determined grin as he grasped her hand, coming to his feet. They quietly regarded each other, appreciating how their friendship had developed over the years since she was his student teacher and he was her student. They quietly nodded to each other as they resumed their walk to the Lab.

***

Dr. Wilson looked up from her readouts to see Elizabeth and Stephen coming into the Lab. She vaguely remembered they had returned to the Boswell Farm to retrieve the families of Tyso, Mike, and Hans; fearful that Jedikiah would continue to attack them in Toppeil. It was hard for her to work within the first hour of the extended families arriving as they insisted on seeing their unconscious children being worked on. For a while it had gotten quite crowded with family, physician, and telepaths in the same room. While the medical area was reasonably spacious, it couldn’t contain everyone safely within. Dr. Wilson finally had to take the stern authoritarian role and order everyone out after a hectic fifteen minutes. Tyso’s father, in particular, was quite insistent on remaining, prompting Aisha to force a mild sedative in him; actually, she insisted that everyone who was non-telepathic take one to help relax after the horrific day they experienced. Glancing at her daughter Aisha, who quietly acknowledged that she would need to talk to the leaders of the Tomorrow People, she moved on to where she was, taking the clipboard from her.

“No worries, mum. I’ll take care of this documentation,” Aisha said.

“Thank you, my little jewel. There shouldn’t really be anything more to do besides continued observation,” Dr. Kartika Wilson explained to her only daughter.

Aisha watched as her mother went over to the white tables under the biotronic computer. She was tired, it had been a long day. She glanced back at the three unconscious individuals and at Autumn and Kim who were utilizing their healing abilities. Warren was fast asleep in the farthest corner of the medical area, insisting that he should sleep nearby in case any complication arose requiring his help. Looking around and determining that everything was going fine, she looked up and asked TIM for a few glasses of water that she could give to Autumn and Kim. She then went to the nearby desk counter and sat down, taking a long breath, looking forward to at least a few hours of rest.

***

“The only reason why Tyso, Evergreen and Ann are alive is because the medusas they encountered are a change from the ones encountered prior,” Dr. Wilson said to the group sitting in front of her at the table as she took a seat, glancing at a nearby clock and realizing it was past eleven o’ clock. 

“How do you know this?” Stephen asked.

“From the biological specimens I’ve been able to acquire from many of you after your run-ins with them, whether through purposeful pick-ups or biological material off your clothes, such as Tyso this last time about; TIM and I were able to establish that the medusas attacking you so far were changed genetically. Basically, these specific medusas that attacked the Boswell Farm whose physiological elements we’ve inspected, suggest more genetic engineering has occurred since the attacks began last week,” the physician explained.

Stephen shook his head, sighing. “I was hoping it was because Mr. Boswell shot them before their toxin needles could firmly react to Ann and Evergreen’s telepathic areas.”

“Could Jedikiah be altering these medusas? And if so, where are they all coming from?” Elizabeth asked.

|While illegal, many smugglers and travelers have been known to keep them around when the creatures are in their decreased phase, meaning that they could carry a dozen, without them taking much room. Expanding and increasing in size only when they are about to hunt or in self-defense. Taking into account the activity that Jedikiah has been displaying, it is a strong theory that he has been receiving assistance from other parties|

TIM said.

Elizabeth turned her head down to focus her attention on Dr. Wilson, visually acknowledging that the physician should continue with her analysis.

“To reiterate what I explained earlier, I’m convinced that what’s been going on with the creatures could be connected with what Garth did to you and Tyso a few years ago,” Dr. Wilson said as she eyed Stephen. “Tyso, Evergreen, and Ann’s body chemistries are reacting very similar to what you two went through with yours. We need to get the exact data on the original bacterium so I can know for certain. This way, I might be able to alter it to the point that it can help bring Ann and Evergreen out of their coma.”

“What, just Ann and Evergreen?” Stephen asked.

“Tyso, I’m not too worried about. The cure which the Federation Medical team had come up with has enabled him to fight against the medusa bacterium much better than Evergreen or Ann. More than likely, he’ll be the first one to come out of it. It’s the physical aspect of the medusa attack that worries me about him. There is visual confirmation that the creature was able to insert an appendage through his skull and into the brain. What happens next depends on how far and how long the emergence happened and what effects will come along from this genetically altered medusa; the obvious and usual effects from a normal medusa, the telepath will recover with full usage of their special powers. I’m in unknown territory with this one, unfortunately.”

Stephen came up to the female physician. “Would it help if you took some blood from me and injected it to Ann and Evergreen, at least?”

Kartika Wilson regarded Stephen, a sympathetic look on her face. “I don’t think so Stephen. Unfortunately, this isn’t like getting the flu shot and building one’s immune system. Whatever is going on with Tyso, the cure that Federation Medical came up with is obviously not working against whatever the medusa physically did to him. He’s the only one so far who was attacked…for lack of a better word…normally by a medusa through its usual means of bringing its prey down. We’ll just have to wait and hope that his recovery runs along those normal lines. Evergreen and Ann, however, were never physically assaulted by the medusas, only telepathically induced to go through breakout once the toxin needles were embedded in them, they’re the ones I’m most concerned about. As I stated earlier, these are genetically altered medusas and we’ll just have to observe what happens on a case by case basis, for the moment. We’ve just barely stabilized them without the use of all three ATP’s and TIM assisting at the same time.”

Carol, Mike, Kenny, and Alexio quickly came into the Lab. “I’ve finally taken my mother to one of the rooms on the ground level to recover. It looks like the other families are settling in now. I think it’s good that they’re sleeping in reasonable looking bedrooms. It’ll help relax them more,” Mike said as he glanced in the direction his unconscious sister was. 

“How have Dana, Maeve and the others been?” Elizabeth asked.

“I told many of them to get some rest and to sleep if they could,” Carol chimed in. 

“And how are your parents?” Elizabeth continued.

Carol settled into her seat. “The Hathaway family is doing well. We had to take them to a family friend of ours, since many in the neighborhood already knew and seen that they had returned. They had to go back to answer for the house. Personally, I’m feeling quite guilty having to leave them behind, but our friend is near Brighton and I’m sure Jedikiah hasn’t ever been there, so they should be quite safe. Still, they’re exhausted. It’s been a tough week obviously, and an even tougher day.” 

“We’re at war,” Alexio said quietly prompting everyone at the table to regard him directly for a few seconds. “We’ve even had to use a pay phone from anywhere outside of Great Britain to call our parents just because TIM said that his phone number is not totally one hundred percent safe from infiltration. And thankfully, so far, our loved ones are safe.”

For the next minute, they all were quiet, truly thinking about Alexio’s comment.

“You’re right, Alexio,” Elizabeth said firmly, remembering her earlier conversation with Stephen. “We are at war; war with an individual who will stop at nothing to see us destroyed. And as in any war, we rest up when we can.”

Alexio turned his obvious tired eyes toward the older woman. “I take that’s a hint that I should go to bed?”

“There is a couch on the other side of the Lab that you can lay on for a few hours. One of us will call you if we need any help,” Elizabeth gently said.

Alexio looked at the others and then rose, taking himself over to the side of the Lab that was more laidback than the rest of the area.

“The past week has certainly seen a more tolerant change in him,” Elizabeth remarked non-sarcastically as she looked at Stephen.

“His friends are in trouble,” Stephen said simply. “But he is correct; thankfully for now, our families are safe. I’ve called parents and they’ve just been going through the day to day activities of their usual life,” Stephen repeated from his earlier conversation with Elizabeth, for the benefit of the rest of the group.

“So maybe Jedikiah doesn’t have the locations of everyone’s relatives, then. This is a good thing,” Elizabeth said.

“Yeah. I’m grateful everyone is safe, but I’m quite concerned about Tyso, Ann, and Evergreen; and then we have their families here. A very unexpected turn of events. I’m actually wondering what we’ll do when this is over, I mean, they’ll still remember where Havenshire is, won’t they? Couldn’t this knowledge put them in constant danger?” Stephen wondered out loud.

“We’ll figure it out Stephen. We just barely all moved in over a month ago and I’m sure this topic would’ve come up eventually. Just one bridge to cross at a time,” Kenny said assuredly.

Stephen nodded as he walked back to the medical area of the Lab to check on their unconscious friends. It was the same conversation he had had with Elizabeth just before they came back to the Lab, but said more for the benefit of the others, who might have ideas to how they could figure out this current situation they were in. 

Elizabeth thought back to the conversation her and Stephen were having with Dr. Wilson. “Carol, have you been able to contact Federation Medical regarding the usual compounds needed to pacify the medusas and information about Garth’s experiments?”

Carol nodded. “I have. Going through the normal channels the medusa chemicals should arrive within the next week or two. To access Garth’s records, and because of the intellectual sensitivity of said records, it’ll be another month to receive the notice that we can go to planet Yrodan and research them.”

Mike released a harsh breath. “Bureaucratic nonsense. Didn’t you tell them of our situation here, Carol?”

Carol turned to Mike, who already had an apologetic look on his features. She gave him a reassuring smile. She knew it was just a sign of exhaustion due to the continuous attacks and his anxiety over the state of his younger sister which made him terse with her. She made an immediate decision. 

“We’ll be better off going to Yrodan in the Starbird; it’ll just be that much quicker and because I still have my diplomatic connections, I should be able to cut through any red tape and enable quicker access to the data we need.”

“Not going through the standard channels, won’t that get you in trouble?” Elizabeth asked.

“I’m sure it will, it’ll just have to be something I deal with after this conflict is over,” Carol said.

“How long do you think it’ll take?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yrodan is not that far away, even by traveling through normal space. We should be able to get there in about 24 hours, probably back in another 24. Getting rest and barring any unexpected…confrontations, it shouldn’t take no more than 72 to 96 hours…a conservative, but more than attainable goal,” Carol said.

“Can we not get the data sent to TIM?” Elizabeth asked.

Carol shook her head. “Like I explained earlier, Garth’s bacterium isn’t a widely known fact. If other non-telepathic societies throughout the galaxy got wind of what he’s done and his data saved, there would be a race to acquire it. We’ve never really had to worry about what viopaths have done because when they die, their experimental data usually dies along with them. They seem very reluctant to share their projects with anyone else, including other viopaths.”

Elizabeth muttered a curse under her breath, “Few weeks…we won’t have a few days if we don’t do something quickly. Okay Carol, get your crew ready. Do you think you can leave within the day?”

Carol nodded. “I finished talking to Andrew before I came back here, and everything related to the Starbird is reassembled and back in its place. We should be able to leave as soon as we have the necessary equipment packed and ready to take with us. Provided it’s okay with Dr. Wilson regarding the status of Kim and Warren. They’re still the only ones that can pilot the Starbird properly.”

“They can recover on the Starbird, provided that’s all they do. They continue to keep pushing themselves, jaunting long distances at a time and utilizing their abilities to their fullest,” Dr. Wilson said, who had been quietly listening to their conversation from a different table.

“We do what we need to do, Dr. Wilson. We haven’t had much say in that matter, so far. I’ll contact Yrodan and let them know about our emergency status, help push some of that paperwork along,” Carol said.

Elizabeth smiled, grateful that Carol still had some pull with her former diplomatic associates. They both turned to a loud scuff of shoe on floor.

“I’m sure the Starbird crew is up for the task,” Autumn said, also overhearing the last part of their conversation. “However, I will have to remain here with Aisha and TIM. At the very least, Ann and Evergreen will need to have continued healing balancing sessions to keep them within the normal ranges of their biology. This toxin these medusas released keeps wanting to overwhelm their brain and automatic body functions, and they’ll need constant telepathic pushing to help maintain their active life states,” Autumn said.

Mike looked behind Autumn to notice that Warren was awake and utilizing his healing abilities. He then quickly turned to Dr. Wilson. “Are you not staying here?”

Dr. Wilson turned toward Mike. “Because I’m the only one at this time to observe and inspect the genetically changed medusas, I’m the only one who can confirm any type of cure I could conceivably create from Garth’s notes, based off of what I’ve determined so far. I will have to go with them.”

Dr. Wilson unexpectedly held Mikes hand in a firm, reassuring grip. “TIM, Aisha, and Autumn will do just fine. Your sister has stabilized to the point where she’ll only need a healing session once an hour approximately. Ann, Evergreen, and Tyso are in good hands.”

Mike couldn’t help but appreciate the physician’s personal way of listening and talking with him. He gave her an appreciative smile.

“Okay, then. Let’s get to it,” Elizabeth said.

***

Next Phase Foundation  
Frankfurt, Germany

Thursday

John looked about in his surroundings. He wasn’t sure what the date was or even whether it was night or day. The ongoing and unyielding artificial light continued its unwavering and unsympathetic brightness in the room. He was so tired and quite hungry. He hadn’t eaten the last few times food was given, as he suspected that it had been laced with some type of serum to make him reveal his secrets. How else to wrap his head around the fact that he actually told his friends to flee the Earth? 

As he walked to the outside, he couldn’t help but feel appreciative that he was in a quiet area in the warm outdoors. John had to shield his eyes a bit as the sun shone brightly in the sky. Obviously, it had been a long while since he had been outside. Once again, he noticed the white Lighthouse in the distance and quickly wondered how he was suddenly outside. 

“You want me to die, don’t you?”

The question Jedikiah asked in his usual quiet and taunting way, took John completely off-guard from his thoughts. He regarded this mad, shape changing robot intently, not responding.

“It’s a healthy attitude, John,” Jedikiah pursued, just for argument’s sake. “For I want you dead also. However, you do have a right to express your desires, at least with me. You want me to die…would you do the deed, if you could?”

John realized that Jedikiah was attempting to coax a specific answer from him, to what effect, he couldn’t say.

“As I’m sure you know, our Prime Barrier prevents telepaths from taking a life…from killing.”

“Well, yes…to a degree. You realize advanced telepaths like your Kim Sterling are able to come quite close to killing, if they become aggressive enough. Your friend Warren could easily do the deed, I’m sure; amazing, the combined genetics of a telepath and viopath, this hasn’t happened for centuries. How does it feel to be such good friends with a potential killer?”

“There never have been individuals of Warren’s uniqueness,” John forcefully corrected his captor.

“Is this what the Federation has told you? Your institution has been in charge for well over one-hundred thousand years. You think you’ve been able to access all information about viopaths and advanced telepaths? Do you not believe that out of the trillions of telepaths in the galaxies, there couldn’t be a small percentage of them that couldn’t do that ultimate deed? Let me explain it to you in simple terms; much like the common flu, which every inhabited planet has to some varying degree, there will always be some who are automatically immune. Now take this metaphor and apply to telepaths, they are the virus; you will have a few telepaths who are immune to the usual genetic dispositions of standard telepaths; develop differently, telepaths who can kill, telepaths who are much stronger than standard ones, telepaths who are able to maintain their natural aggressiveness such as advanced telepaths and viopaths. From the trillions of Federation citizens, these “immune telepaths” probably make up no more than one percent of the Federation population at most. The Federation has many…what’s that Earth term….oh yes, skeletons in their closets. You would do well to have one of your friends have full and continued access to the Federation Archives. I’m sure you’ll see that many of the Federation’s telepaths have killed from time to time,” Jedikiah said smugly.

John became angry, looking directly at Jedikiah. “That’s a lie. Our Prime Barrier-“

“Means nothing if you have the overriding will to initiate the action!” Jedikiah bluntly interrupted. “Oh John, I did not realize how much you’ve hidden your reasons and responsibilities of your behavior over some genetic quirk within. What kind of a leader do you believe you are?”

“The kind who has had help to defeat you, Jedikiah, time and time again,” John shot back.

Jedikiah snorted derisively. “Yes, and yet you’re jealous of one of your telepaths; Andrew, of his recent work with biotronics, or the fact that Mike and Elizabeth are wanting to do things outside of regular Federation duties. I suppose feeling left behind is a human trait; after all, Carol and Kenny became Federation Ambassadors at quite the young age, while you’ve stayed on Earth, barely defending your world against a variety of would be conquerors. Not much leadership there if you’re constantly allowing aliens to invade your world, or allowing your jealousy to affect how you interact with your fellow telepaths.”

John was shocked that the Tomorrow People’s arch enemy knew so much about him. 

“I must be dreaming again,” John muttered.

“Of course you are, fool! How else would I know all these…feelings, that you have? How else would I know about your confusion about Tricia Conway, or whether your father will be well after the death of your mother?” Jedikiah calmly gloated.

“Shut up!” John said as he attempted to walk away from what he believed to be his mind tormenting him.

Jedikiah quickly came up to his side again. “Or maybe, my medusas are working overtime to eat you…slow and painfully.”

John immediately stopped at this new bit of information. He quickly tried to remember what he had reviewed about medusas after Carol and Peter’s run-in with them while prisoners of Jedikiah and his lackey Rabowski all those years ago. He did recall that medusas could psychologically break their prey down by a faint telepathic connection established while on their hunt. It would explain a great many things about why he was having all these nightmares of late. Why he had felt mentally and physically exhausted. He had no idea how long he had been a prisoner of Jedikiah’s…hours, days, weeks? 

John turned to confront Jedikiah but was startled when the mad shape changing robot took him by the throat and screamed in his face. His throat being constricted tightly in the robot’s grip. He immediately felt his pulse race…

John opened his eyes in panic and anxiety, for a second, he couldn’t remember where he was. The unnerving quietness confirmed that he was still locked up in Jedikiah’s cell. John attempted to call out to his friends but still received the same emptiness, most likely from being continually near medusas.

At least now I know why I’ve been having all the nightmares, John thought.

John unwillingly reacted as the door swung open loudly. He couldn’t help that his heart and pulse started to race again, expecting to be abused by his usual pair of silent guards; however, this time it was only Jedikiah who entered the room. The door closed and once again, unwillingly, he flinched at the sound.

“You seem anxious John. What’s wrong? Not getting enough sleep?” Jedikiah said as he settled into his seat at the table, setting down two cups of a steaming substance.

John slowly propped himself up on the cot, attempting his best to put on a focused and stern face, but his body just would not respond like he wanted it to. He couldn’t help but shiver as his body attempted to warm itself up.

“I brought you some tea,” Jedikiah said as he observed his prisoner intensely. “That is what you people do in your country, correct? Any type of serious concerns, or mid-afternoon snacks, or wars…you find time for tea. It is hot, and I promise…I haven’t laced it with anything.”

“You believe I would take you at your word about anything?” John asked.

“You’re not entirely in the best of circumstances, I will admit. You’ve been here for quite a while. You’re cold, hungry, without support from your friends or allies. You’ve pretty much been left to your own devices, which is probably the hardest of all, I suspect. And I haven’t really told you my plans for you,” Jedikiah said, full of false concern.

“Planning to kill me then?” John asked defiantly

Jedikiah made a great showing of taking a sip of the tea in front of him, before setting it down. “No John. I have more long-term plans for you. In fact, I will be letting you go soon, would you like that? All you have to do is tell me where all your telepath friends are. You must have your headquarters somewhere. Now I know you’ve abandoned your recent one after the SIS broke in late last winter just after the conclusion of the Thargon and Sorson conflict; I also know you’ve somehow managed to erase any mention of your existence in specific government computers, including your native England. You must know that your presence in this world has been known for more years than you can conceive of. I recall when I looked up this Colonel Masters; you remember him, I believe. His associates had a telepath they had been watching. I believe she vanished, never to return. They probably killed her.”

John turned to confront Jedikiah. “I will leave this place. My friends will find and come rescue me. We will turn you over to the Federation authorities and remove you from my world, discontinuing your threat to the citizens of the Federation.”

“You truly believe the Federation will look after your interests?” Jedikiah was all serious now, focused, intimidating. “You’re a closed world, John. The Federation hasn’t cared for closed worlds for many of your centuries now. And your world in particular, I’ll be surprised if Earth will ever be a proper full member of the Federation. Your friends such as Timus and Timon, I’m sure, have many secrets. As I recall, your Colonel Masters and Tricia Conway from SIS have had many dealings with near-telepaths, years before they made your acquaintance. Can you trust Tricia, should you trust her with having your best interests at heart? She does seem to have an affinity for working with government and military authority figures for most of her adult life. How lonely you must be to consider having her as your potential…intimacy mate, John.”

John thought he could hear the disdained tone of his captor; not surprising, as Jedikiah always did seem to have a consistent contempt towards telepaths.

“Why do you hate us so, Jedikiah? What has happened to you that makes you want to destroy us?” John asked.

Jedikiah regarded John for just a moment, as if contemplating an answer to his distracted question. “I managed to get off of Earth after your Federation passed judgment on me, left me trapped in this image. I went back to familiar environments from my youth. However, your Federation doesn’t seem to want me to live a life away from you telepaths. Having to go from system to system like a common vagabond…a vagrant. You stole months from me and I spent years looking to find out why. Your telepaths act privileged…entitled to have your say without dealing with the consequences of your actions and policies. You’ve helped ruin my life!”

John shook his head. “You only have yourself to blame. I’ll admit, you’ve been through a lot Jedikiah; your brain transplanted into that of a robot body, forced time traveling, solitary confinement from other entities for centuries at a time, that’s all your memory issues are. Is there nothing you won’t blame telepaths for? The Federation would’ve warned us that you had gotten off Earth.”

Jedikiah smiled. “And why should they? The only reason they instigated their judgment was not because their precious telepaths on Earth needed their help; the Federation just couldn’t stand to have some shape changing robot retaliating against one of their own, sanctimonious and important Federation agents. The only reason the Federation allowed your group to live among them for that one year was to save face. They had to be seen as showing sympathy and taking pity on telepaths suffering in a non-telepathic society. Your Federation has more connections to this part of the galaxy than you think, particularly your world. If you have any good sense, you’ll take your people off this violent backwater and colonize your own planet. Your society has a history and reputation of being one of the more violent worlds in the whole of the galaxy. Federation and non-Federation space faring races alike avoid your system. Your Galactic Trig will never allow your kind to have full membership, no matter how many telepaths are able to breakout. There have been worlds with half the aggressiveness as yours who were unable to attain their elitist superiority which your Federation demands. Truthfully, John, why bother wanting to save this world’s people? They won’t appreciate your kind and what you have to offer; their fearfulness will always taint their progress. The Federation will never allow Earth to venture out into the galaxy. Take the Thargon and Sorsons; do you think the Federation didn’t have a hand in assuring these two races would continually be fighting against each other? Do you believe that the Federation didn’t have a hand in keeping their races planet bound for a much longer period of time? Even as your world is able to send its people into orbit or the moon, or send unmanned exploratory devices into the universe, you don’t think the Federation will do everything in its power to ensure that your people will remain ignorant to the vast activity going on out there? It will still take centuries for your people to leave your solar system, if you haven’t self-destructed by then with your unending wars and petty social and cultural squabbles. I’ll be surprised if your people will still be around by the end of your current century. Do yourself a favor John, and have your people leave this planet. I’m doing you a courtesy by revealing what the Federation stands for. Because if you don’t leave, then you and your friends will be fair game for me and the many others on this world who want you for their own gains. I only make this offer because only you and your Tomorrow People have had the strength and fortitude to stop my plans; and in a twisted way, I can respect that. But after today, this will never happen again. Your people will be used to help annihilate your kind and the Federation.”

“And you’re stating this out of the kindness of your non-existent heart,” John stated flatly, tiredly.

“I am, actually. Because I get my hands on your friends, they will be subject to experiments and research. I am positive that will be much more painful to them, then if they had left this world when given the chance,” Jedikiah said.

“Why are you telling me all this Jedikiah? Your personal history has shown you’ve always been against the Federation. Why do you expect me to believe these extreme descriptions about them?” John asked.

“I don’t. But with how long your mind has been constantly wearied down by the presence of the medusas, I only needed to distract you long enough to figure out where your people are.”

Jedikiah proceeded to get up from his chair, recognizing the wary reaction coming across John’s features. 

“More lies,” John said, but with a spark of anxiety in his tone.

“Or your lie, John. Regardless, I have the image of this white building which you call the Lighthouse prominently in your mind. I’m sure with a little research, I and my associates will find your headquarters. We will then go about destroying each and every one of your friends,” Jedikiah said.

John watched as the shape-changing robot made it appear like he was preparing to leave. He was curious as the entity stopped and dug into his folders he had retrieved from the table. He took one out and showed its contents to John. A photo, whose image looked all too familiar to him.

“These are the remains of the Hathaway Residence,” Jedikiah said with deadly focus. “There were no survivors.”

Carol…oh no, Carol…Jennifer and Dana.

John unexpectedly sensed a surge of rage coming up from within and he unexpectedly grabbed the chair in front of him and swung it across Jedikiah’s face, yelling incoherently in distress and anger. Jedikiah immediately dropped to the floor, absolutely shocked at his captive’s reaction. John quickly assessed the situation and made a split decision; escape was his immediate option. Running down the hall, he turned a corner and made a straight shot to the door meters ahead of him. He was going on pure adrenaline and instinct as he was sure the exit in front of him led to the outside and his freedom. He burst through the doors…taking only a few seconds to realize he was back in the familiar surroundings of his room. He quickly turned around, planning to go back the way he came and found all he saw in front of him was a wall. He released a sound of loud anguish as he fell to his knees, unable to accept what was going on, as new suspicions of where he was sprung to mind. 

I’m going mad…!!

John.

“Leave me alone,” John responded. “Leave me alone!”

John, look at me. It’s Dana. Where are you?

John looked back towards where the voice was coming from and saw the familiar face of Carol’s youngest sister, looking scared and concerned for him.

“No. You’re not Dana. You’re a figment of my mind, which has finally snapped. You’re dead!”

John turned away from her and immediately recognized Jedikiah, arm raised and moving swiftly to connect with the side of his head. John could hear the sound of the slap against his face and immediately welcomed darkness from the unexpected assault from his worst enemy.

“Fool!!”

***

Jedikiah took off his head band tiredly. He gave the device to Dr. Suarez who put it on the nearby counter. She had a look of anxious apprehension on her face as she retrieved a glass from an adjoining counter.

“What happened in there? There were serious spikes of mind activity coming from the both of you.”

Jedikiah took a breath as he received the glass of water, offered by the physician. He drank slow and purposely.

“Somehow, a telepath made contact with John. While he may have not realized it consciously, his body did and responded accordingly. While this contraption may keep a telepath from calling out, apparently it doesn’t take into account communication through dreams. Take him out of the immersion tube and place medusas around his proximity on a continual basis,” Jedikiah said.

“Shall I use my concoction I’ve come up with?” Dr. Suarez asked.

“Not as of yet. The medusas will keep him in place as needed. For the next stage of the plan, we’ll need for the Tomorrow People to find him. Were you able to get the image of this lighthouse he has been having in his mind?” Jedikiah asked.

Dr. Suarez nodded. “We have. It’ll take some time to find it; I mean, where would we start? There are thousands of these particular buildings throughout the world.”

“These specific Tomorrow People seem to have a habit of staying within or near their country of origin. Investigate the whole of Great Britain. If we can’t find it within the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours, then we will not worry about it. His friends will have rescued him by then and he will lead us to their headquarters. We are still within the operative boundaries of the plan,” Jedikiah said.

“I see. Then I’ll contact Dr. Menze and see about readying our people to invade their home headquarters soon,” Dr. Suarez said.

“Excellent. I’ve done all I could to make John question everything about himself and the Federation,” Jedikiah said.

“Are you expecting him to survive all this?” Dr. Suarez asked.

“I do, Eris. If we’re going to figure out what makes these telepaths tick within the upcoming few years, then yes, John of the Tomorrow People will survive. Whether he is the same person as he was when we first captured him, is a different matter altogether; and truthfully, nothing I’m too concerned about. As for his friends, they’re expendable. We’ll kill as many as we can, if that’s attainable,” Jedikiah said as he stood up and looked back at the floating figure in the tube. 

“Your time is nearing an end, John.”

***

Havenshire Castle  
Scotland

Dana woke up in a cold sweat, whispering John’s name a few times, looking around her room and hoping that the older man, at least in her eyes, was around. But all she saw were the walls of her usual bedroom she had been maintaining at the castle for over a month.

[Carol, I think I saw John and I’m pretty sure he’s alive]

[I’ll be right there]

Before Dana could protest, her big sister appeared.

“Blimey, you didn’t have to come here and hold my hand like some concerned wet nurse, you know?” Dana said irritably.

“Right, anyway, go on. What did you see?” Carol asked her sister.

Dana thought back a bit, trying to remember everything about her dream. “Well, I had a dream, but it didn’t really feel like a dream. I guess the best way I can explain is when you told me about that dream you, Stephen, and John had of Peter some years ago. He was sending help through time.”

Carol became somewhat alarmed. “Are you saying that John is not in our present time?”

“No, I don’t believe so, I mean, that’s not it. I’m just trying to confirm that what I saw wasn’t a dream, I think I saw where John was, or at the very least, what was going on in his mind. I think I’m still connected to him somehow from when we all used that telepathic method to stimulate my precog abilities last week,” Dana said.

“Then that being the case, your abilities are stronger than mine. I haven’t gotten any type of vision such as you have,” Carol said.

“When was the last time you slept? What time is it anyway?” Dana asked noticing the tiredness in her older sister’s face.

“Time to find out how everyone else is faring. Willing to investigate with me?” Carol asked.

“Sure. I probably couldn’t get back to sleep again anyway. How are mum and dad doing? Are they still safe?” Dana asked.

Carol went to the door as Dana proceeded to quickly put on her shoes. “They’re fine. TIM has been and will be in contact with them while they talk with the fire department and insurance agency regarding the house. It would be too suspicious if they were to remain here, as many in the neighborhood knew of their return the day the house exploded.”

“Let’s go,” Dana said as she moved past her sister and out into the hallway.

***

Carol and Jennifer made their way to the Lab to find a serious discussion going on with Elizabeth and Stephen in charge of its proceedings. From the way things were being spoken, it looked like those two had agreed that the Starbird should be taken to the Yrodan, to find out about Garth’s bacterium, it’s cure, and to collect the specific compounds needed to fight against the medusas. It was at that moment that Warren, Kim, Jennifer, Kenny, and Dr. Wilson turned to regard her and her sister.

Elizabeth stood up, her face steadied at an even angle, displaying her resolve. “Carol, we’ve agreed to have you be taken to Yrodan to access the materials and information needed to save our friends.”

Carol nodded in confirmation. “Whose to come with me?”

“Warren, Kim, Jennifer, Andrew, Dr. Wilson, Maeve, Muirne, and of course, Staarla. You are to leave as soon as possible,” Elizabeth said.

Carol felt a strong, empathic anger grip her mind; it was from Dana. 

“Guess you’re not worried about mum or dad like I thought either of you would be,” Dana said and walked back out whence she came before either of her sisters could comment. 

Carol slightly shook her head, as she realized once again, that she would have to put her sister on the back burner to things which insisted on taking higher priority. She was annoyed.

“Let’s get ready, then. Elizabeth, I need to discuss something private with you, about Dana.”

The others went about to prepare for their trip while Carol led Elizabeth to the jaunting pad, talking about Dana’s recent dream about John.

***

It wasn’t even an hour later when the crew selected had gotten their items needed to prepare for a long-distance physical journey into space. Autumn had already said her goodbyes in the medical lab; Dana was still upset her sisters were making the trip, leaving her behind, so Hans and Alexio had decided to cheer her up at the castle, making it just Elizabeth, Stephen, Kenny, and Mike to see them off.

“Elizabeth, you should work with Kenny. He has a good eye and mind for getting in and out of places without being discovered. Don’t wait on us. There’s no telling how much longer John is able to hold on,” Warren said worriedly.

“I will,” Elizabeth said simply. 

Warren turned to follow Kim up the ramp from the bottom front of the aerial craft.

“You be careful. Garth is dangerous,” Elizabeth called out to them, memories of her first and only run-in with the viopath coming to the fore of her thoughts.

Warren turned around. “We will, Elizabeth. We’ll be back as fast as we can.”

“Indeed. Besides, Garth hasn’t dealt with Warren and myself. We will keep him in line,” Kim said with a focused determination.

Elizabeth smiled as she watched the two resume their upward walk into the ship. Once they got to the top, the ramp began to rise, closing with a hiss of hydraulic sounds. 

Warren and Kim came up into the forward cockpit and settled in. Dr. Wilson, Maeve, Muirne, Andrew, and Jennifer had taken positions in what had been designated the rear cockpit. Carol had taken a position in the third seat usually occupied by Autumn, within the forward cockpit.

“Let’s get er ready, everyone. Staarla, you set?” Warren asked.

|Affirmative. All systems are prepped, music selected|

Staarla said.

Kim flipped a few switches up top; reaching back, she pushed a button, getting distracted by Carol’s faraway look. “Carol, you with us?”

Carol blinked as if she had been poked with a needle. “What? Oh…yes, I’m sorry. A bit distracted.”

“Might be a good time to get some sleep. It’ll take us awhile to get there,” Kim absently mentioned.

“I will,” Carol assured her as she prepped herself.

Kim regarded the former ambassador, getting a growing sense of what was diverting her concentration. She quickly recalled how her younger sister Dana was quite upset and annoyed at Carol and Jennifer just before they left, thinking this was the likely reason.

Never easy being a sister, Kim thought to herself as she briefly thought of her family, before she turned around to resume the pre-trip inspection and systems check.

|Anybody for a specific song to start with?|

Staarla asked.

“Something from the Moody Blues.”

Everyone was quiet for a bit, somewhat surprised that Dr. Wilson would even suggest a song, as it seemed so out of place with her usual serious demeanor she had been displaying of late.

|Fly Me High sounds good, classic Moody Blues| 

“Okay, leaving in 3…2…1”

The Starbird rose quietly off the rocky ground of the cave. Elizabeth watched as the front of the ship turned slowly towards the cave entrance and forwarded itself into the open. After a few seconds outside of the entrance, it turned upward and the sound of its engines engaged, pushing the Starbird speedily upwards towards the sky. Elizabeth couldn’t help but briskly run toward the caves entrance, in curiosity and awe of the aerial craft’s power. She watched as the ship raised upward until she could no longer see it in view. All that was left was a fading trail of exhaust which had unusual glistening properties, which quickly dissipated.

“Wow…it never fails to impress me seeing the Starbird from the outside taking off. Quite impressive,” Kenny said as it reminded him of watching old NASA rocket liftoffs.

“That it is,” Mike quietly added.

“How’s the band been doing without your presence, Mike?” Stephen asked interrupting the group watch of the Starbird.

“They’re doing as well as can be expected. I told them my sister is in the hospital, so it’s not like I had to lie to them about anything. Byron Lucifer wasn’t too thrilled, but then, the next concert isn’t for another week in Amsterdam,” Mike said.

“Sorry this is happening when your band’s been given this opportunity to go on tour. I’m sure it hasn’t been easy,” Stephen said.

“I would’ve gone with them, but I felt I should be near my family, just in case…” Mike trailed off.

“Speaking of, let’s get back to the Lab. It’s morning and I’m sure some of our families will be awake soon. Maybe get some breakfast,” Elizabeth said.

A nod of heads prompted Elizabeth to touch her jaunting band as all four disappeared from the cave.

***

“Okay, we’re settled in,” Kim said.

“Staarla, prep the Starbird for the coordinates needed to get to Yrodan,” Warren said.

|Affirmative. Should take no more than fifteen minutes|

Staarla replied.

“Let’s get going to Carol’s briefing,” Kim said as she quickly got out the seat.

“Right behind you,” Warren replied.

The two pilots came upon the group and took a seat across from Dr. Wilson. It continually annoyed Warren to no end that whenever he would be near Dr. Wilson, there would be some type of negative energy emanating from the two of them. It was no secret that Dr. Wilson was particularly cool toward Warren for many years now.

“Okay, then. Let’s get started. I’ll make this quick and to the point. We’re going to Yrodan to access the information needed regarding Garth’s bacterial experiment he utilized against the Tomorrow People three years ago. From what we’ve experienced so far with the medusas is that the effects seem to be an accelerated version of what happened with Stephen and Tyso. Dr. Wilson is going to compare Garth’s bacteria with the work done by Federation doctors to cure Stephen and Tyso, along with information we already have acquired with this new variant, “Carol explained.

“Carol, will we have to physically meet Garth?” Jennifer asked with a slight anxiousness to her voice

Carol was quiet for a moment, conscious of the fact that what she would say next would conceivably upset her sister. “I’ve already put a call to the Federation authorities, regarding the potential and need of this…conference. They are…aware of our current status with the medusas and the personal situation of which you, John, and the others have encountered Garth; however, for reasons I cannot ascertain…or fathom, we are required to be in visual proximity and to not ask to see Garth, no matter how important it is to speak to him.”

“Stupid Federation rules,” Jennifer mumbled with displeasure.

Carol felt the fear coming from Jennifer. It had only recently during one of their quiet moments together catching up that her sister had told her about the encounter with Garth and how it personally affected her. However, she was also able to feel a determination coming from her middle sister, giving her the impression that while her sister did not want to encounter Garth, she was adamant that she would if it saved the lives of Tyso, Evergreen, and Ann. Carol felt an intense satisfaction of pride at that moment of her sister’s inner courage. She had managed to catch Jennifer’s eye, but unexpectedly, her sister glanced away, as if she had been caught in something she shouldn’t have done. 

Carol released a quiet, but frustrated breath. “I do understand, Jennifer. All of us have at one time or another, been on the receiving end of a viopath’s wrath. Personally, from what I’ve read and heard about regarding Federation actions from the past few years, it makes me want to get back in the swing of things working with Overmind again. In my opinion, they can…and should, be doing much better in assisting worlds which have had inadvertent influences related to Federation activities. Anyway, I digress, enough of my personal thoughts, I will yield to the floor to Kim and Warren, both of whom will explain why you were picked for this mission, and a strategy side, in case things go the worse with Garth.”

Kim stood and took the floor first. “There are reasons why you all have been picked for this specific mission, and why there are so many of you here. While the plan is to not encounter Garth, this is something totally new, as we’ve never had to encounter a viopath who has been in watched custody for so long. Andrew and Jennifer, you two are here because you know how the Starbird works, and we need this ship to operate in top specs. Our advantage is that we know much more about this ship’s capabilities and Garth has never encountered the majority of us. Indeed, of all of us here, only Jennifer has engaged in conflict with this viopath. We still have no idea what Garth is capable of, however, while he’s been in Federation custody. I understand you were forcibly induced to work along with him, so I don’t want you to do anything more than necessary then you have to when you observe his responses and physical reactions to our questions, we’ll be asking him. Do I make myself clear?”

Jennifer was firm and focused with her physical affirmation of Kim’s statement. She briefly thought back to how she had been under the viopath’s control, which had not been too surprising; she had only broke out as a telepath not even a month prior to his arrival. It still freaked her out with how easy it was for Garth to get inside her mind.

Get your head on straight, Jennifer. Stay focused, people’s lives are at stake, the middle sister of the Hathaway family quickly thought to herself.

Kim nodded. “I truly hope we don’t have to have a discussion with him. Okay, coming back to the explanations of why we’re here; for obvious reasons, the majority of the Starbird crew are along, sans Autumn who had to stay behind to assist in stabilizing our fallen friends at the moment. Carol, for obvious reasons, still has an understanding of Federation protocols and still has the influence to make things happen at the highest orifices of office. For Warren and myself, apparently, we’re still the only telepaths who can pilot this craft and have experience defeating viopaths. However, over the course of established Federation protocols and our personal experiences, no less than two ATP’s at a minimum should confront a viopath; and for this reason, I picked Maeve and Muirne to accompany us.”

The two Irish sisters’ physical reactions were subtle, but different from each other’s as Kim explained her reasoning’s for having them on this endeavor.

“I’m confident that Warren and I can handle Garth if he gets it into his mind to try anything; however, when it comes to viopaths, we do not take chances…ever. It’s also been established that the two of you are capable of enhancing your special powers when you’re physically touching or in close proximity of each other, possibly within just a meter or two from each other without touch. Indeed, from what TIM’s analysis has been, powers that are stronger than Kenny’s and possibly close to the level of an advanced telepath, regarding your telekinesis. Because we don’t have Autumn here, I picked you two because it’s possible we could use a strong backup, or at the very least, assist the others to safety. Now, I’m going to hope that we won’t have need of your unique abilities against a viopath, just months after your breakout. I know you’re both still reeling from what’s happened recently from the terrorist bombing in your birth town of Warrenpoint, and you’re still very new to our telepathic family…but this is what we do. This won’t be the first time new telepaths have been thrust into the middle of the action so soon after coming into their special powers. Based on recent events, I do know we can rely on your trust, strength, intellect, and common sense,” Kim firmly stated.

“You can count on us,” Maeve said.

Muirne nodded her head in agreement to her twin sister’s response.

Kim looked over to the figure seated across from her. “Dr. Wilson, the reasons for your presence is obvious. As a specialist in both homo-sapien and homo-superior physiological and telepathic attributes, you’re the only one whom we hope, can confirm whether Garth’s journals and notes will give us the proper information and data needed to assist us and save Evergreen, Ann, and Tyso. I’m also confident that you can put aside, any personal challenges you might have with viopaths and conduct your actions with professionalism and expertise.”

“You can expect this,” Dr. Wilson said simply.

Warren subtlety raised an eyebrow at the physician’s generic sounding response before turning his attention back to Kim.

Kim nodded slowly, as if not looking forward to the next part of the briefing. “Okay, I’ll have Warren explain our plan if we have need of Garth’s assistance and the viopath decides to initiate conflict with us.”

Warren stood up and took his place where Kim had relinquished not just a second before. “Right, thanks to Carol’s diplomatic connections from when she was an ambassador, we’ve been able to secure access to their computers for a short while. From what little we’ve read about this planet, this is something that isn’t granted lightly in any official capacity, so the sooner we’re able to get the information needed, the better we’ll be. When we arrive, we’ll be required to leave our stun guns on the Starbird or to give them to Federation officials for safe keeping. If things go wrong, all we’ll have are our own special abilities. Now, apparently, the Federation has given the viopath significant territory he can utilize to his own personal content; however, the facility does utilize multiple security measures to keep Garth from jaunting or leaving the planet and his areas of living. My understanding is he has no access to teleportation, and extremely limited accessibility to his telepathy and telekinesis. I’m sure this does not make him any less dangerous, as with many viopaths, he’ll have an intelligent and mechanical aptitude. Viopaths have no problems utilizing manipulative and psychological means to overwhelm their opponent; and as Dr. Wilson continually likes to remind me…so do I. You must also remember that viopaths are very adept at reading minds through intense empathic emotion or through line of sight. Viopaths thrive on chaos and turmoil, making it easier to read you; avoid direct eye contact and, as best you can, clear your mind of any doubts or conflict. Viopaths are adept at picking up psychological responses such as this and the willingness to use them against you accordingly. If anything happens with Garth, you will fall back and have myself and Kim take care of him, or at least until the Federation guards can arrive and utilize whatever strategies they’ve trained with to quell Garth and myself.”

“Warren,” Andrew spoke up. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you know if you’ll be able to be around Garth? Since our fight with the viopaths back in March, I’ve read up more on viopaths and they usually can’t be within a short proximity of each other without going mad. You’re at least partially viopathic, won’t your mind become entangled with Garth’s, also?”

Warren nodded. “The trio of viopaths; Fero, Vic, and Viola, whom we fought, were under the influence of the Sogguth, who apparently had ways around that particular genetic trait I share with viopaths. I’ve…well, Kim and I, we’ve encountered a few viopaths when I first started working for the Federation ATP Squad. Because of my paired genetic traits related to standard telepaths and having abilities of an advanced telepath, well….it doesn’t mean I can’t feel these genetic quarks, but I can choose to overcome them and keep them at bay.”

“Why would the Federation security have to “quell” you also? Won’t you be helping us?” Muirne asked.

“Because I’ve always been had to be pulled away from any fight I’ve had with a viopath. While I may not have to worry about my proximity to a viopath affecting my mind, my viopathic side which is more aggressive will become stronger, and I will continue to escalate the physical conflict until one of us is…down for the count, basically. It’s a combination of my genetic needs and personal wants. Just make no mistake, you protect Dr. Wilson and each other and find some cover if things go nuclear with Garth. Kim and I…together, will be able to handle this,” Warren stoically explained.

The area where the meeting was taking place at was quiet, as the individuals took stock of Warren’s words and the overall importance of the upcoming mission. Dr. Wilson was quick to recognize subtle physical reactions about Warren, coming from the Irish twins and Andrew in particular. She didn’t have to be a telepath to realize that they still had questions they felt they needed to ask. 

“Alright then,” Carol said. “I can understand why everyone is nervous; preparing for something that in all likelihood might not happen. But it is better to be aware of what we could potentially be facing up against. I have a few things I want all of you to read up on to help prepare yourselves. Let’s get going back to the rear cockpit, where I have them. We’ll all meet on the lower deck in five minutes.”

Everyone began to rise up from their seats as they followed Carol to the front of the ship. After a bit, only Warren and Dr. Wilson were left at the table. 

“So, I have to say, I’ve been dutybound to let you know that I have a treatment for Garth if anything goes wrong,” Dr. Wilson said as she reached into her personal bag, retrieving a syringe of some type.

Warren observed her placing the item on the table. He looked at it for an extended time, as if measuring his own suspicions about it, before retrieving it. He held it in his hand for a bit.

“Is this what I think it is? You know this has never been tested, right?” Warren asked.

“Not as of yet. If Garth comes after us, we’ll have the chance to use it,” Dr. Wilson said.

Warren steadily regarded the woman in front of him. “The last time this was attempted to be used, was when Kim, myself, and the rest of the ATP squad were in battle against two viopaths.”

“Yes, it is. It’s the same concoction. Do you not believe it will work?” Dr. Wilson asked.

“Well, unknown…considering that many of its ingredients came from my genetic structure, as related to my viopathic and telepathic genes,” Warren said with a hint of disgust in his voice.

“It’s better than what was used previously in the last 800 years; wherein the viopath would go into tortuous convulsions before expiring,” Dr. Wilson said.

“Yes, I know the stories. Only the more aggressive telepath could utilize this remedy, and then at great cost of their psyche, even losing their special powers because the psychological consequences would be too great. I’ve read that a few deaths have occurred as well,” Warren said.

“Because telepaths are genetically predispositioned to not kill purposely, any sentient individual, it was to be expected this would happen. And you realize why Federation Medical were prompted to use your DNA structure, as you’re the only one with viopathic genes to work for the Federation,” Dr. Wilson reminded Warren, a slight tone in her voice. 

“Conscribed, you mean, on both counts. I find it interesting that you would have such access to this type of concoction of execution. Something of this nature, I would think, would only be allowed with the highest security clearances. I have to assume that Dr. Timon Mosta gave this to you in case I went to the viopath side,” Warren thoughtfully said.

“I’m sure you understand, or you wouldn’t have brought the subject up. And you should know much better than the majority of Federation citizens, the extreme measures being forced upon when it comes to dealing with viopaths,” Dr. Wilson said.

“And ATPs also; mostly secluded away from Federation societies, only allowed out when we have a mission at a specific planet, yes I’ve lived with that extreme,” Warren said mild disgust. “So, hypothetically speaking, if this did happen, would you do the deed, or would you have one of the telepaths here on the ship, lose their special powers or their life, to initiate this dangerous action,” Warren stated.

“I could never ask this individual to perform something of this nature, especially when I can do the deed myself,” Dr. Wilson retorted.

“This is good,” Warren said simply.

“How do you know this individual is like Tyso? Information like this isn’t common knowledge,” Dr. Wilson stated.

Warren slowly rose his chin a bit, still focused intently on the physician. “I am a partial viopath, Dr. Wilson. I have been able to feel this aspect of a telepath’s ability for a number of years now.”

Dr. Wilson was losing her patience, “I’m going to be frank with you Warren, I don’t trust you. I don’t trust your time with my son and I believe you have too much of an influence on him. I’ve seen your after-action mission documents, and you have just as a manipulative nature as your counterpart Garth. Nevertheless, you are a very unique individual, one of a kind apparently. I’ve read up on the few individuals who have had both DNA for viopath and telepath. Did you know the last one, Barisske Trymm, lived almost eight hundred years ago? He also was of a manipulative and violent nature. The Federation finally had to take away his special powers because he eventually refused to play by their rules; unlike yourself, he didn’t have the abilities of an advanced telepath or viopath, which enabled the Federation to succeed, but with a cost of quite a few lives. I state this because I believe you’re a dangerous individual and impulsive. Frankly, I find you untrustworthy because you have taken it upon yourself to keep even this information to yourself, even from Kim, I suspect. Has everything you’ve been through with these people, not been enough for you to put more of your trust in them?”

“I do this because I am the only one who can proceed to go against Garth, without hesitation. I have no doubt this individual we’re speaking of could possibly perform this duty; but because of the full telepathic nature of this person’s genetics, there would be too much of the possibility of hesitation at the crucial moment, a moment that could get this individual killed. My aggression retained from my viopathic side, I’ve worked at utilizing for many a mission’s advantage I’ve gone on. Nothing more…or less. So yes, I am potentially, a dangerous individual. I will not argue with you on that,” Warren said.

“To me, you’re basically a homo-sapien who has these miraculous abilities. You have the same violent temperament as a homo-sapien,” Dr. Wilson said. “And you still haven’t answered my question.” 

Warren was thoughtful. “Then I shall be perfectly frank with you, Dr. Wilson. There are things about the Federation which I don’t understand, especially when it comes to its treatment of ATP’s and viopaths; as such, I’m certain you agree with their rules. So, I don’t expect you to understand how advanced telepaths work within the social and cultural aspects of the Federation; indeed, I don’t expect you to understand the rubrics of warfare, survival, and subterfuge. But this is how I grew up; first with my parents, and then Job Atherton, and finally learning from Federation sanctioned ATP Squads. Every person and agency I have learned from have been in wars and aggressive conflict of some kind. So yes, many of my behavioral and aggressive tendencies will be associated with secrecy, manipulation, stealth; as well as violence and ferocity…doing what is necessary to get the job done. Unlike viopaths, I have retained a strong sense of duty, loyalty, and empathy to the individuals I respect and associate with. So, you can either use this chance to learn from such a….as you’ve explained it earlier…a unique individual such as me…for the benefit of the Federation; or you don’t. Your choice.”

Dr. Kartika Wilson’s mouth thinned with intense focus. “I think you shouldn’t be around my son too much. Whenever you’re around, extremely dangerous and violent things happen. I would greatly appreciate that you take heed of my concerns.”

“I will,” Warren said simply, again.

Dr. Wilson was inadvertently caught off guard by his calm response. “You will?”

“I don’t argue with mothers and their instincts regarding their children. But know that you’ll have to talk to Kenny about whom he hangs around with. He’s grown into his own man, whether you want to accept that or not, you won’t be able to keep him protected by having him stay behind or by a safe ambassador job. After spending the past year with him in Earth’s past, I find that he can handle himself quite well. So, personally, I have to wonder if your personal feelings on my friendship with your son will affect your professionalism when it comes to your job station; after all, you are our main physician now. However, given the three years I gave to the Federation as an individual in one of this galaxy’s ATP Squad, as well as assisting in keeping two Federation ambassadors alive for the past year, I would think some measure of trust might’ve been attained by now. Still, it wouldn’t be the first time one of authority has been skeptical about me. My only concern is to wonder if I can trust my own physician, that she’ll do her duty properly, or try to eliminate me. You can truly think about what I said through critical and unbiased eyes, or you can just assume that I’ve been manipulating you throughout this whole conversation.”

Dr. Kartika Wilson leaned forward, her emotions threatening to boil over, making sure that Warren had all his attention focused on her. “You’ve also learned from John, Kim, Carol, Kenny, and other telepaths you’ve come into contact with. Many who don’t resort to violence to get things done. Have you not learned anything from them?”

“I’ve learned enough to have them as people I can rely on, to offer support when I am having issues of negative temperament and hot-headedness. But I’m not going to apologize for my actions so far, especially to an individual who has never gone out of their way to communicate and civilly associate oneself with me. Personally, I’m not concerned of one such as you who has hit me with your negative judgements regarding me; professionally, I would like to think better of you in that regard. Again…do your job or don’t, although I’m sure Federation Medical might have some issues of your lack of specific standards and oaths you’re to be upholding with your status within this agency,” Warren harshly shot back.

There was an uneasy and aggressive silence in the air between the two intense individuals. Before any of them could resume their personal conflict, Staarla came on the intercom, needing Kim and Warren to come to the cockpit. Warren immediately left his seat, staring intently at the physician in front of him. 

“I wonder if your feelings on this personal concern are clear, Dr. Wilson,” Warren firmly stated as he continued his stare down at the seated physician.

Dr. Wilson didn’t back down and continued to glare under his intense focus, until Warren turned and walked toward the front of the ship. The woman’s thoughts were quite turmoiled as she analyzed the conversation; chiding herself for allowing her personal concerns to interfere with her professionalism. If there was one thing she grudgingly acknowledged about the one similarity she had with the young man, was that they both never had a problem with stating what was on their mind and sometimes, didn’t seem to care how they won the conflict. 

That could’ve gone a lot better, Dr. Wilson thought as she softly banged her fist against the table in frustration. 

Dr. Wilson sat at her seat for an extended minute, before hearing a few of the younger telepaths talking as they were getting ready to head to the lower part of the aerial craft. She stood up, composed herself, and began to follow behind them.

“You know what this training is all about?” Maeve asked as she dropped down from the last rung on the ladder in the lower section of the ship.

“Nope, I’m still thinking about what Warren said,” Muirne said. “You know, I’ve read up a bit more on viopaths when we first started our telepath training last month. The stories which have been written and documented. I mean, should we trust Warren?”

“What do you mean? He’s come through multiple times for us,” Andrew said.

“He’s also been quite the enemy at times, such as when he was controlled by Damian when he first broke out and then by those three viopaths back in March,” Muirne said.

“I think technically, he was controlled by the Sogguth this last time around. But it wouldn’t be the first time a telepath was taken over by some entity. John, Stephen, Kenny, Mike, even Hsui-Tai were at one point or another, taken over by some type of mind control,” Andrew explained. “Look, I haven’t worked with Warren until recently, but from what I’ve seen, he’s someone who can be counted on. I mean, I get it; you have questions, you should, you’re scared and that’s smart, keeps you from doing something stupid. But I’m quite certain that everyone here, Carol, Jennifer, Kim, even Dr. Wilson wouldn’t have us along if they thought he would get out of control.”

The two Irish twins mulled over Andrew’s words as they came in sight of Carol and Jennifer at the opposite end.

“Well, I guess we’re ready to do this,” Muirne said as she filed away her concerns about Warren for future reference.

Dr. Wilson couldn’t help but overhear the varied, vocal thoughts developing regarding Warren, Federation protocols about the treatment of viopaths and advanced telepaths. She was reminded how it always seemed that young people could have more of a pure and straightforward, innocent-type trust toward how the world worked; before life seemed to grind that out of them, as it seemed to have done with her long ago. She pushed the distracting thoughts aside as she came up upon the group for the additional training session.

***

“So, how did the talk with Dr. Wilson go?” Kim asked as she was confirming coordinates for their hyperspace jump.

“Splendidly,” Warren grumbled.

Kim glanced at her co-pilot. “Well, at least you two communicated your concerns to each other.”

Warren turned his head and focused his eyes directly at Kim. “Is there a reason the only time she and I talk is when we’re traveling on the Starbird. We’ve barely said two words to each other since being back on Earth.”

“She’s just a mom looking after her son,” Kim replied.

“Honestly, Kenny can truly take care of himself, you know this. He may be all of fifteen, but he’s gotten life experiences that many adults don’t or won’t have, who are more than double his age,” Warren said.

“Did you tell her that?” Kim asked.

“No, but near the end, I pretty much told her that maybe I was manipulating her throughout the entire conversation,” Warren said. 

“Now that sounds quite calculating. I’m sure it didn’t help your cause any,” Kim commented.

“I’m sure it didn’t. At the time, I didn’t care enough to suggest otherwise. I guess she’s just a person I won’t be able to get along with too well,” Warren said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Kim sighed as she monitored a gauge. “I guess it’s to be expected with all of us ATP’s. The way the Trig kept us away from the general public; it’s going to take some getting used to after the reveal that telepaths such as us are still about the Federation.”

“I suppose,” Warren responded.

Kim checked on a few readouts and flipped a switch to the intercom. “We’ll be launching into hyperspace in T minus fifteen. You might want to take this time to strap in.”

It was quiet in the forward cockpit as the two pilots finished their checklist, readying themselves for the jump. Kim spoke the countdown and they then engaged the engines to propel them into the psychedelic looking visual of hyperspace. After a minute, the two confirmed that all systems were working fine.

“Well, looks like we’ll be arriving in about 20 hours at this pace. Much better then expected,” Kim said.

“Well, Carol did say her estimates were conservative,” Warren said.

“Well, ready to get some training done with the other telepaths?” Kim asked as she got to her feet.

“I’m assuming Dr. Wilson will be there,” Warren asked as he unbuckled his restraints.

“Indeed.”

“Oh…sure. Why not?” Warren said in self-mocking way.

***

Yrodan System  
Planet Yrodan

Friday

The Starbird emerged from hyperspace and positioned itself in orbit around Yrodan. After a few minutes, confirmation was received by Federation Security and the craft began its descent into the outer atmosphere. After a bit, the stabilizer wings were deployed as they came upon their final descent toward the capitol city of Yrola. Because of Carol’s diplomatic status, they were approved to park the Starbird in the city at one of the few space ship enclosures, called interestingly enough, ‘Ambassadorial Hangars.’

There was reasonable tension and anxiety in the cockpits, as everyone inside knew what this mission would entail. Getting the items needed to quell the medusa attacks would not be a problem. Having to be prepared to possibly deal with a viopath who still had access to some of his powers, would be another thing. 

The trio in the forward cockpit watched a small welcoming committee coming toward the aerial craft. Carol automatically sucked in a breath, causing Kim and Warren to gaze upon her questionably.

Carol shook her head with growing frustration. “Damn. Why couldn’t we have gotten anyone besides her.”

“Someone you don’t like?” Warren asked as he observed the young woman dressed in what passed for business attire on this planet.

“No…someone I absolutely adore. This would be much easier lying to someone I have no connections with. I’ve known Shrouda Petei pretty much since I started working for the Federation. She’s a security consultant and advisor for numerous systems, and she’s very good at her job,” Carol said with annoyance in her voice.

“I don’t have to do anything outright, Carol. Just a bit of a telepathic push here and there. It actually might make things easier because she expects you to be honest with her. Anything which might sound out of the ordinary with her, she’ll just chalk it up to a logical reason; as a close friend, she won’t think too much about it,” Warren explained.

“Close friendship that ends today, probably.” Carol regarded Warren, her eyes telling him one thing, but her tone and voice saying another. “We don’t alter the plan, you understand?”

Warren’s lip pressed into a thin line, nodding his head that he would follow.

Carol sighed. “Well, time to do this, then.”

The eight members of the Starbird crew descended the ramp, conscious of the expectant committee, awaiting their arrival. The two women came to stand within a few feet of each other. They then slightly bowed at the head, their right-hand fingertips touching their own foreheads, and then their chest, before finally opening their arms wide, all the while keeping eye contact with each other with mutual respect.

“Consultant Shrouda Petei, peace and longevity to you.”

“Ambassador Carol of Earth, peace and longevity to you, always.”

The lead woman quickly came up to Carol and gave her a rather unexpected and obviously non-protocol embrace. 

“Carol! It is such a pleasure to gaze upon your countenance once more. It has been too long,” Shrouda said.

Carol blushed slightly as Shrouda gave her two air kisses on either side of her cheeks, much to the fascinating interest of the other telepaths gathered.

“It’s been a long time, Shrouda. How are Kal and the girls?” Carol asked.

“They’re doing quite satisfactory. They’re soon to take their term assessments. They’ve done well this past cycle and should propel soon to their next scholastic levels. And Kal is currently on track for a promotion to supervisor. I had heard you returned just a few of your months ago. We’ll have to associate soon,” Shrouda said.

“We will, I promise,” Carol assured her friend as she used her arm to introduce her friends. After pleasantries were exchanged, they began their walk to the Yrola city headquarters to check in.

“So, I got your communique. Apparently, you’re in need of compounds to fight off a medusa invasion. How atrocious. Such a logistical nightmare, much like my current status. You picked a most unforgiving time to visit, my friend. I do look forward to when your Earth will have enough telepaths to proceed to the next level of Federation Initiation. Acquiring these items will be so much easier; these and anything of standard right planets are privileged to within the Federation. If you can wait for a short while, I can give you items which have just been completed of inventory very recently. I believe…as you would say, Carol…it’s shelf life would be more than sufficient to help with your current medusa problem. The carrier is being guarded now by a few Federation police officers since Garth attempted to take over the craft on an earlier run some cycles ago. It should arrive in the next five of your Earth hours. See? I told you I would study up on your Earth and its culture. Now, the next part of your message seemed a bit…unclear. Could you clarify it for me?” Shrouda asked.

“We’ve also been having some issues which we believe are connected to the more biological tendencies of the medusa, and we’re hoping to acquire Garth’s data and information regarding his biological bacterium he developed three years ago. I’m hoping that everything we would need is in the data banks and computers you have,” Carol stated.

Shrouda looked at Carol’s friends, who seemed unusually calm and stiff; and while it seemed like she was about to protest, she suddenly perked up like she had already decided it was nothing to worry about.

“Most of the information is in the computers. However, there are still gaps in his documented experiments which we suspect, he has been keeping from us. Now we’ve always suspected he kept them in his own personal computers, but because of specific Federation protocol, we’re unable to force him to give us that information. But we do have the full cure information from Federation Medical, so hopefully you’ll be able to get everything you need from what we have here,” Shrouda explained as she pointed to the digital archive building.

Carol continued. “Understood, however, time is of the essence and I request permission to be able to see Garth if I have to.”

Shrouda was curious about why Carol seemed to be acting a bit peculiar; granted, she had every right to demand of these things, as was much as her ambassadorial privilege allowed, but the obvious lack of any official Federation document explaining this action was quite unheard of.

“Well…we have a few ATP’s on world, but they’re assisting with a matter on the other side of the planet. I’m not sure they could come here at a moment’s notice should you require their assistance.”

“I do have a few ATP’s with me. I’m sure you might have heard of them…Warren and Kim from our local galaxy’s ATP Squad,” Carol said.

“Ah…yes. I have,” Shrouda said as she gave Kim and Warren a diplomatic smile. “Well…highly unusual. But I’m sure your authorizations just got stuck in channels. Just so you’re aware, sometimes Garth will just watch from afar even after he has been…requested. Mostly to scare and manipulate telepaths; however, it’s wise to keep your thoughts from overreacting. The past year however, we’ve initiated new protocols; if we haven’t heard from him after a few hours, the whole planet goes on lockdown and there’s nothing Garth hates more than to have over a dozen telepaths in his territory all at once searching for him. From time to time, some of our scientists have been able to coax information from him, but usually only when we give him something back in return, and unfortunately there have been times when that information was proven false. Garth also has a habit of getting into the minds of telepaths who forget that he is a viopath; and when that has happened, things have gotten violent and chaotic. He enjoys the confusion and pandemonium that results when manipulating these telepaths, as any viopath does. With what we’ve had set up, Garth is only able to access a minimal amount of his special powers, but he can still be formidable with his psychological manipulation and high intelligence. This is why we have ATPs going in with the regular Federation scientists and limit stun guns to just the ATPs; and if those don’t work, which on just one occasion, it didn’t, then we have devices which can effectively pacify him. Unfortunately, it would also pacify the telepaths along with him. Going by my past experience and observations with him, do you really believe you’ll be able to convince Garth to cooperate and give you truthful responses when you do see him?”

“Of course,” Carol lied.

Shrouda continued to have anxiety about this whole state of affairs. She also kept looking at the two ATP’s, something just wasn’t sitting well with her about this whole situation. Still, it wasn’t like she had a reason to distrust or believe one of her best friends was not being totally honest with her. 

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“We’ve encountered viopaths before and managed to emerge relatively intact. We’ll be fine. Thank you, Shrouda. Your assistance has truly proved invaluable to us,” Carol said with such stoicism that she took her friend a bit off guard.

“Yes, well, as I explained earlier, you couldn’t have picked a more unforgiving time to visit. Officially we’re supposed to have confirmed paperwork from the Trig itself, even for ambassador privilege, but I assume it’s already on its way; so, I’ll allow it. Hopefully, I’ll be done with these meetings before you do have to leave. In the meantime, I extend my hospitality of our world and facility to you and your associates. Until we meet again,” Shrouda said as she gave Carol another one of her open-air kisses on either cheek; she then bid the others a diplomatic dismissal, before retreating back to her duties with her quiet entourage.

“Well then, I better get started with the research,” Dr. Wilson immediately said as she began to head on over to the digital archive building. 

“Jennifer and I should check on a few things on the Starbird. If felt like something was a bit off when we came in,” Andrew commented as he also retreated with Jennifer back into the Starbird.

Maeve and Muirne seemed to be in awe of this new and wondrous place that they only thought could be reached by their sleep-filled personal dreams, or thought up in school or on a daydreaming, lazy sunny day.

“Could we…look around a bit?” Maeve asked as she spied all the various alien species walking about.

Kim regarded the two Irish sisters. “Of course, but as you’re not at all familiar with the niceties of this planet, you would be wise to physically stay nearby so you don’t break any Federation laws.”

“We will. We’re just going to take a slow walk among…this area from a scene from Star Wars,” Muirne said.

The remaining trio watched the twins walking away, who were truly getting a sense of wonder and awe from where they were currently at.

“I do remember feeling that way when I first arrived on a Federation planet outside of Earth,” Kim remarked. “Still, any of you happen to catch this often-mentioned movie these neopaths keep mentioning and talking about?”

“Nope,” Warren said as he observed Carol in deep thought. “Can you give us a second, Kim? I need to clarify a few things regarding the mission.”

Kim regarded Warren, and then looked at Carol, who was still in some type of deep thought mode. “Okay, I’ll see you two in the digital archives building.”

Kim stiffly walked toward the direction Dr. Wilson had left for not even a minute ago. There was a sense of empathic disappointment that was coming from Kim which both Warren and Carol felt.

“Damn…I think we actually hurt her feelings with that,” Carol commented.

“We did. I didn’t like it either. But the less people to know the better they can be protected and absolved of any accomplice stuff,” Warren said.

“Warren, it still truly unnerves me when you’re able to telepathically manipulate a person, particularly another telepath who happens to have been a very good friend to me and my family in the past,” Carol said.

Warren took a subtlety quick glance in the direction which Dr. Wilson walked. “Yeah. You’re not the only one. Although, I didn’t have to do much. She truly does believe in you. All I did was just push her thoughts and doubts on a path that would benefit us and assure her that what you were speaking of was on the up and up.”

Carol sighed somewhat harshly. “Well, even if this gets out, you’ll still be technically in the clear, as I used my ambassador privilege to order you to this. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, I suppose.” Carol shook her head. “That year we did in Atlantis and Earth’s past sure did a number on our behavior and attitude. I’ve never gone against the Federation so blatantly as this.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time the Tomorrow People have gone anti-establishment. Let’s help Dr. Wilson on the computers and find Garth’s medical files and experiments. Our physician is going to need everything at her fingertips. Sooner the better,” Warren said.

“So, it doesn’t affect you then? That viopath part of you really does come in handy when it comes to suppressing emotions, doesn’t it?” Carol stated bitterly.

Warren looked directly at Carol, whose face was a turmoil of emotions. “We’ll have to think about this much later. We have a good chance of having to face Garth, and if that’s the case, then we’re going to have to go in as clear headed as possible. Compartmentalize this or Garth will figure it out and definitely use that feeling and memory against you twofold. You know how viopaths are and how they fight. Just because his telepathic abilities are hindered, doesn’t make him any less dangerous. This is the one time when that British stiff upper lip needs to be utilized. We’ll have plenty of time to apologize and make amends once this is all over. Right now, we have people who are counting on us.”

Carol stared back, seeing just as much emotion in his eyes as she was experiencing within herself. “You’re right, of course. Doesn’t mean I have to like how we’re going about it…damn it.”

Warren stood back, looking at the Federation ambassador, his hand overexaggerating, covering his mouth and nose. “Wow, Carol. You kiss your husband with that mouth?”

Carol gave her friend a scrunched up, sour look. “You know I talk this way when I’m stressed.”

Warren and Carol abruptly gave each other a brief, tight hug, physically letting each other know that they did understand and respected what they had to do to bring out the outcome they needed; for their friends’ sake back on Earth. It was also a physical manifestation of everything they had experienced within the past year and more, a release that assured them they still looked out for each other. 

“C’mon, let’s get that information we need,” Warren said as he led them both to the structure their friends had gone in earlier.

***

Approximately three hours had passed since the crew of the Starbird had arrived on Yrodan. Most of that time was used to assist Dr. Wilson in finding and analyzing the documented experiments and data from Garth’s bacterium. During that time, Maeve and Muirne had continued to explore the city, amazed at the various sights which their eyes perceived. It had felt like a welcome mini-vacation after all the violence and tragedy they had been experiencing for the past week. Back at the Starbird, Andrew, Jennifer, and Staarla had been working mostly on a specific control panel, which seemed to be quite resistant of their attempts at being repaired, related to the functionality of its mining lasers. Things were working fine between the three, but Andrew could sense the intense frustration and anger which Jennifer was exhibiting. It brought him to think about his dad, who thankfully, was still not involved in any way with their current situation. He was sure his dad still wasn’t happy that his only son was away so much, continually wondering and concerned about his personal priorities. Andrew realized that he would have to have an actual proper talk with his dad; soon, about his developing interests and motivations, which were far from running a business and hotel. 

Another couple hours passed in which they all had something to eat while Dr. Wilson was conducting her own experiments at the public lab. The foods they sampled had many unique tastes and flavors, but satisfied everyone’s hunger which had developed during the day. There was an unspoken guilt which was felt during that time; here they were, having a calm bite to eat, while their friends back on Earth were probably wondering when the next attack would occur. Staarla, who was in constant contact with TIM, assured everyone that things were quiet for a change; unexpected, but welcomed with everything that had been going on in their war with Jedikiah. Talk was small, but it was relatively anxiety-free; the new environment had done the group well. It was as they finished their meal that Dr. Wilson came up to them, wanting to see them in the Starbird, after having completed her analysis. 

After they finished with the monetary business of the food’s bill, they quickly went to their aerial craft; once they settled into the seats in the main living hold, the physician started with her results.

Dr. Wilson began, “Having completed my analysis, and what I’ve been able to ascertain, I do believe I can use this Federal Medical’s cure and Garth’s notes, to develop an antidote which can bring Ann and Evergreen out of their coma, without killing them, allowing them to purge the toxin from their system.”

Everyone had caught the tone in her voice, knowing that there was going to be a further addendum to her statement.

“However, I am curious as to what else he might be able to tell me, regarding the medusa’s biological state. Garth introduced some experiments which the Federation scientists had never even thought of, much less initiated, regarding the medusa’s sentient and sub-telepathic abilities. While I am certain I can bring about what I’ll need to cure them, I believe Garth’s knowledge of these nuances can only strengthen what I concoct. I want to have Ann and Evergreen with the strongest quality serum to get them back on their feet,” Dr. Wilson explained. 

Carol regarded the physician. “Strictly along percentage points, what would your confidence be with and without Garth’s assistance?”

“As of now, I feel I would only have a fifty-fifty chance of developing a treatment which brings Ann and Evergreen back to health; with his help, I feel that it would be at least eighty-percent,” Dr. Wilson said.

“Why only eighty percent?” Muirne asked.

“Only because of what information I have at this current moment. Once I’m working on developing a treatment, and that everything Garth has explained is truthful and proven, that percentage will undeniably work its way up,” Dr. Wilson explained to the young Irish teen.

The group was quiet, considering the circumstances and the likelihood of having to confront a captive viopath; particularly one who already had a past conflict with at least one of their number in the group, as well as telepaths from the same planet. They all looked to Carol for the final decision.

“Okay. We had hoped this wouldn’t have to be the case, but now it is. Maeve, Muirne, and Andrew, you remember your training, it’s the first time the majority have encountered a viopath and you need to follow it to the letter, do I make myself clear?” Carol demanded their answer.

All three nodded in unison.

“I would rather not take all of us, but there are Federation officials who have the talent of knowing when someone is lying. If we leave just one of you here and they find out, they’ll use their devices to bring about a premature conclusion to our mission. There will be no doubt that the paperwork I stated, which presumably had been prepared and given to the Trig, has not been tendered and our mission will immediately end, and we will be forced to face the consequences of our actions, which our friends absolutely do not have time for. Now, we are ready to do this,” Carol stated in no uncertain terms.

The group had already made up its mind. They had trained for this eventuality and they were intent on seeing their plan through. They all nodded to Carol’s statement.

Carol looked toward Warren and Kim. “You two have any words of wisdom?”

Warren looked at Kim, who gave him a nod to proceed. ““I would love to leave the majority of you here while Kim and myself take care of this; but as Carol stated, if the Federation realized what we were doing, sad to say, we would be stuck having to go through their slow-moving bureaucracy. And I know that John, Tyso, Evergreen, Ann, and the other potential telepaths yet to breakout do not have that luxury. Dr. Wilson, I’ll want you to make sure you’re between Maeve and Muirne when we go into Garth’s territory. You’re the only one of us that can’t telepathically defend against a viopath. Maeve and Muirne, I cannot stress enough that encounters with a viopath must be handled with extreme prejudice, usually. What’s happening here is something neither myself, Kim, nor anyone in the recent Federation have encountered regarding a long captive viopath. Expect the unexpected. Even after three years, the Federation is still figuring Garth out; it’s why he’s been given wide latitudes regarding his boundaries. I take it you’ve both read of our various encounters with Garth and various viopaths?”

The identical sisters nodded in confirmation.

“We’ve read everything of the Tomorrow People’s encounters with viopaths,” Maeve said.

“To include your most recent encounter this past spring,” Muirne added.

“As we explained earlier, anything happens, Kim and I will take care of it, while the rest of you find cover,” Warren said as he looked at everyone. “That’s all I got,” Warren finished.

Immediately, Kim spoke up. “Then it’s settled,” Kim regarded the quiet holographic image of Staarla. “Mind the store, Staarla. Hoping we’ll be back sooner, rather than later.”

|You can count on me|

Staarla replied with a peculiar tone which sounded like a cross between an old west drawl and the sound a record player emits when slowed down; eliciting a few curious responses from the group.

Andrew grimaced somewhat embarrassingly. “Sorry, we found an old western that had the actor, John Wayne in it. Staarla seems to be quite fascinated with his way of speaking.”

The group couldn’t help but smile at this, relieving some of the tension and anxiety that had been developing for the past few minutes.

Carol stood up, catching everyone’s attention as she looked at them all. “Okay then, ready up and let’s get going. We leave in the next five minutes.”

***

Yrodan Containment Center  
Garth’s Territory

The group had arrived at Garth’s assumed local territory a few hours ago and within the hour, came upon his structural residence. It was surprising how well-kempt the area was. From the various past confrontations the Tomorrow People had experienced with their limited conflict with viopaths, they had expected a place which would look just as chaotic and fierce looking as their aggressor’s mind. The whole localized area was one of pristine and calm environment. Dark green grass everywhere, a forest in the background, while the front of the cabin faced clear land, faded mountains in the distance. 

“How long will we have to wait here?” Jennifer asked as she curiously contemplated the postcard perfect scenery all around.

“Maybe we should just go on in and access his computers ourselves,” Andrew suggested.

“No,” Kim said. “It’s certain that Garth will have traps set.”

Maeve was nervous as she looked around the serene environment. “Why does the Federation believe that a person such as this is capable of rehabilitation?”

“I don’t think it’s as much a rehabilitation as it is more about gaining information from a captive viopath,” Dr. Wilson commented. “By my reckoning, it’s been so many centuries since a viopath has been observed in a controlled environment, every action and every daily routine Garth does is another step closer into figuring out what and why they are.”

“A lab rat,” Warren said with a touch of disgust in his tone.

Dr. Wilson was about to comment on Warren’s remark when a significant noise came from the nearby wood line. Everyone immediately stopped and looked in that direction. They kept their focus, looking around for the next minute, conscious of every bird, breeze, and critter making noise.

“He’s around,” Kim said with a focused calm tone.

“Indeed,” Warren agreed.

The Hathaway siblings looked around slowly at the surrounding forest, so similar to Earth’s, even down to the green grass and leaves. The sky was of a lighter blue then Earth’s, but made for a beautiful contrasting background to the gray clouds that passed lazily over them. The open grassy field where the log cabin was situated in made for a peaceful, postcard perfect environment. It was something no one had anticipated finding in relation to a viopath.

Carol observed her sister quietly, noticing her nervousness. “How are you holding up? Considering your one and only encounter with Garth, it would’ve been understandable if you insisted on staying behind.”

“What, and let Andrew get in trouble with all this technology being around here?” Jennifer released a sigh. “Sometimes, I wonder about that kid. He’s so into developing his technopathic talents, I don’t think he takes the time to consider the potential consequences of his actions. I’m sure it’s the main reason why he’s not been getting along with his father too well, of late. I figure someone has to keep him in line, might as well be me,” Jennifer said with a laugh which had been plainly forced.

“And the fact that I needed everyone to come along wasn’t a factor at all?” Carol said, a hint of seriousness in her voice.

“Nope,” Jennifer said with an exaggerated nonchalant tone.

“Why are you here, Jennifer?” Carol asked her sister suspiciously.

Jennifer looked directly at her older sister. “Never could pull the other one with you, could I? Alright…I’m here because I have a fear of this viopath, which would be only natural since he controlled me during our last encounter. So logically, I need to get over it and confront it, by confronting him; even if that only entails being in the same vicinity as him. To prove to myself that he has absolutely no control over me…and never will.”

Carol could empathically sense the truth in her sister’s words, but still had the impression that there was more to it then what she had just explained. 

“It’s really peaceful here, reminds of early quiet mornings during the slow seasons at the hotel,” Andrew said to both Jennifer and Carol; obviously unaware of the conversation the sisters were having with each other.

Andrew continued to revel in the calm quietness, catching what looked to be a well-sized bird flying out from the trees. However, the bird quickly became an increasingly dark mass of significant size, clearly not a bird, or even a biological entity. He could only react vocally, unintentionally imitating what his recently returned Uncle Alick would’ve probably said from his military days.

“Incoming!!”

Heads suddenly turned to Andrew and his focus and they quickly utilized their recently practiced strategies to avoid the boulder which was coming their way. Maeve and Muirne immediately took Dr. Wilson in between them and jaunted, taking her along with them due to the matter transporter that was linked to their jaunting bands. 

As everyone reappeared, the boulder had already landed, embedded itself on the ground, but then suddenly things started flying at them, rocks, stones, dirt, and then creatures appeared, growling and making loud noises. It was everything the telepaths could do to telekinetically ward off the multiple attacks.

Kim felt a presence along at the cabin, familiar feeling. “Warren! Kinetic Ground, 12 o’ clock!”

Warren immediately turned toward where Kim’s focused attention was; they telekinetically ripped a large chunk of ground and threw it toward the side of the cabin. The two then jaunted in that direction; once appeared, they used their telekinesis again to throw a humanoid figure across the way, crashing the individual loudly into what looked to be equipment around a stone well. 

The various objects related to the physical environment immediately ceased being thrown and the creatures which had literally appeared out of nowhere just as abruptly disappeared, leaving a few shocked and off-balanced telepaths in various mid-defense poses. 

Jennifer could finally sense her personal worse enemy; seeing where Warren and Kim were, she immediately jaunted to their position, appearing in front of them and ready to go against him, ignoring Warren’s order to not take that course of action. Unfortunately, as soon as she prepared her offensive attack, she felt herself being thrown to the side, colliding with Andrew and Dr. Wilson, who tumbled into a cluster of arms and legs.

Murine and Maeve were preparing to utilize their combined and strengthened telekinetic abilities when their attacker was suddenly thrown a clear twenty feet into the air and landed brutally into crates of wooden boxes, practically shattering a few open. The Irish twins stared wide-eyed as they watched Warren jaunt and appear in front of the individual, who immediately rebounded back to his feet and grabbed Warren by the front of his shirt. They both aggressively grappled onto each other, yelling and fighting to topple the other and attain their hostile supremacy of each other. They finally managed to untangle from their grips, and Warren immediately struck at the individual directly in the throat, catching him off guard; he then performed a violent roundhouse kick against the individuals head, causing him to unceremoniously drop to the ground. Maeve watched as Warren wrapped him into a wrestling hold, choking off the man’s air. Both twins were shocked at the ruthless nature of the fight, the dark countenance of Warren’s face as he refused to let go, regardless of Kim’s order to cease the conflict.

Warren felt his adversary begin to go limp and finally released his hold, but not before getting a last, brutal kick into the man’s face, the crack of contact being heard from everyone nearby, and the sound of the individual’s body rolling and flopping hard on the ground. 

The whole attack and fight had taken less than a minute, the sounds of the outdoor environment coming back to the fore; an extreme contrast of natural calmness and violent chaos within the span of those intense seconds. The newer telepaths had flabbergasted looks on their face at seeing such actions coming from people who had the same special powers as they had, witness to these same powers being used in such a fierce way.

Even Andrew, who had read up and heard about viopaths was stunned about the outcome. Something caught his eye in the distance just over one of the groups shoulders. He walked toward it and recognized some of the technology. Holographic type devices, which explained the creatures that had been about to attack them earlier, they weren’t real. He slowly glanced around, able to see similar type holographic poles, spread out throughout the seeable property close to this viopath’s cabin. 

“Plainly, you’re Garth,” Kim said matter-of-factly, intense eyes focused on the viopath, still able to sense the aggressive telekinetic push coming from him.

“Clearly, you’re right,” Garth replied, returning the aggressive stare to Kim.

“Ready to acquiesce to our demands? We’re a bit pressed for time,” Warren stated, still holding his telekinetic force, anticipating the viopath’s probable pushback.

Garth maintained his aggressive telekinetic hold at the ATP; however, as he continued his stare down, he was able to realize that Warren wasn’t an ordinary advanced telepath. “Half-path…well, isn’t this something?” Garth lowered the intensity of his telekinetic force, until it was completely gone. “This does change everything.”

Things were quiet, but still anticipatory intense as everyone stood their ground, expecting Garth to attack again, but he was unexpectedly calm.

“Garth,” Carol plainly stated. “I am Ambassador Carol representing Earth. I am here to attain an audience with you, in regards to your developmental information regarding your bacterium you developed over three years ago.”

“Well, of course. Come with me,” Garth said flatly.

As Warren kept his close proximity to the viopath as they walked to his cabin, the rest of the group were left behind with mostly stares and shock as to how they were able to have Garth comply with Carol’s demands so readily. 

“Unusual,” Kim replied. “But not entirely unexpected. Keep your thoughts to a minimal and refrain from doing direct eye contact with Garth. Viopaths enjoy chaotic extremes, and this just could be one of those happening now.”

It was an unexpected silent walk to the cabin. Once Carol and Warren arrived at the door, Warren did a quick, but complete scan of the inside, making sure there weren’t any unexpected traps lying in wait.

“You shut off my innovative snares when you slammed me into the crates, effectively damaging my equipment,” Garth said as he showed the group his now impaired looking wrist band tech. 

“Good,” Warren said with menacing malice.

Garth regarded the young man, seemingly satisfied with his adversary’s attitude and brusque tone. He settled smoothly into his seat next to a console and typed in a few commands. The room was warily silent as he went through the motions on his keyboard. He could sense the hostility from Warren and the anxiousness coming from the rest of the group; but all were ready to respond if he did anything which wasn’t performed in a slow and patient way. He couldn’t help but smile at this situation, making an exaggerated movement to collect a device which could save the data he was transferring. After another few intensely quiet moments, the computer signaled that everything of the transfer was satisfied. He grasped the data chip and handed it to Kim, smirking the entire time.

“So, the famous…or should I say, infamous partnership of Kim and Warren of this galaxy’s ATP Squad. And look, a familiar face among the crowd…Jennifer Hathaway. It has been a few years since I last chased you and your friends around, still…buried in your work?”

Jennifer glared at the viopath at his choice of words. “I wouldn’t mind burying you somewhere, preferably under a planet.”

Garth was silent for a bit, surprise registered on his youthful face until he burst out laughing. “Oh, Jennifer. You have more fight in you than the last time we met. I am duly impressed.”

“Enough, unless you want us to beat on you again,” Warren said, his tone on edge.

“Oh, don’t be afraid everyone. Us viopaths usually will practically tear ourselves apart with our usual tech stuff before working together in some way; basically, whoever is the dominant force, as that must be established first. I’m usually the victor with my technological prowess, but it’s extremely rare for a viopath to go fisticuffs with another viopath, oh…I’m sorry, a partial viopath,” Garth said for the benefit of the rest of the group.

“Will this allow us to find a cure against these medusas?” Dr. Wilson demanded.

“Well, I have made some modifications with this strand I’ve come up with since my forced incarceration, so I assume you should be able to find something to stave off the effects of these medusas; however, the data chip is programmed with specific time limits of admittance. You’ll only be able to access the information twice before a routine in the program will delete it completely. Not my doing, as the Federation will only allow these types of data storage to be used…at least when it comes to my findings. You Federation types truly are a paranoid lot.” Garth said as he turned his back away from the others. “You have all you need, I’m sure you can show yourselves out.”

There was a development of some confusion with Garth’s last statement, as they all had expected the viopath to put up more of a fight against giving the information to them. Overall, the whole matter was of a most peculiar and unexpected situation. Once they felt it was satisfactory that they take their leave of him, they began to move cautiously to the outside.

It was only Andrew, who by some odd arrogant or ignorant sense, had been reluctant to move. Garth sensed this and turned his head slightly to the Scottish teen’s direction.

“The technopath requires something?” Garth remarked.

“I would like to know how your illusion generators work. They seem quite similar to how my holographic anchors work, back on Earth,” Andrew said.

Garth took a long, hard sideways look at the young Scottish boy. Narrowing his eyes at Andrew, as if contemplating something.

“Well, you do seem to have a bit of a technopath developing among you. I can tell by the giddiness of your anticipation working with new tech. Always putting tech ahead of any danger,” Garth stated frankly.

“No time for this Andrew, we go…now,” Jennifer said as she pulled on his arm.

“I am feeling quite generous today, boy. Look for the plans I will send to the Federation Archives, they will only be in your name…Andrew,” Garth stated.

Warren quickly came up to the young adult and telekinetically shoved him up against the far wall. “Get outta here, Andrew!” Warren then focused on the viopath, whom he had forcefully had suspended in the air. “You don’t talk to him, you don’t talk to Jennifer. You don’t talk until you’re spoken to, and then you answer when we demand it. Don’t you dare try to think otherwise of your place. I will rip those entitlements out from your miserable brain, if need be.”

Garth was starting to feel the violent energy coming from Warren, which so conflicted with his steady tone of voice, and couldn’t help but relish in the calm brutality and chaos of it all. “Oh, the damage we could do together, if you would just let go and embrace your darker half.”

“Go embrace death, viopath,” Warren growled out as he released Garth, having him fall to the floor.

Garth laughed for a good long second before recovering himself up and eyeing his antagonist eye to eye. “I’ll see you again, half-path. And sooner than you think. And then we’ll see who begs to…”embrace death” as you call it.”

“Right here and right now-“

“Warren! We need to go…now!”

Warren stopped what he was about to do, hearing Kim’s stern voice made him remember the real reason he was here. He narrowly focused his eyes on his adversary as he began to realize that Garth truly wasn’t worried about anyone else in the group. He had manipulated him, personally, into reacting exactly how the viopath had wanted him to respond.

Warren half turned to see Kim prepped for some kind of defense in case Garth did try anything; but the rest of the group, particularly the Irish twins, had controlled fear in their eyes. And rightly so, as a fellow telepath who had been among them and welcomed with open arms, was about to act in a way which none of them had witnessed, much less contemplated. Warren immediately turned his back on Garth, conscious of the stares being given to him.

“I promise, we will see each other again…and much sooner than you think, Warren,” Garth threatened.

“Everyone, let’s go. We have what we need,” Carol ordered.

Carol’s voice caused everyone to remember about their reasons of being here in the first place. Now that they had what they needed, there really was no reason to stay any longer; and the more they stayed, the more chance that Garth could telepathically manipulate them, even with his powers at minimal.

“Good luck on your mission…Tomorrow People of Earth,” Garth taunted his foes as they finally walked out of the cabin and proceeded along the direction from whence they had come from.

***

The travel back to Yrola City was one of disquiet and nervousness. Everyone in the group felt unbalanced by the unusual confrontation with the Garth. It truly had been a lesson in extreme contrasts regarding violent and peaceful overtures. 

They had barely been on the same block of the academic area when Shrouda came up to Carol, flanked by a few official looking Federation supervisor types and police. The stern looks on their faces spoke volumes. Carol prepared herself.

“Ambassador Carol, currently on sabbatical status, I hereby place you and your entourage under official Federation quarantine, until such time that we can ascertain the true purpose and nature of your visit; specifically, to the contained individual, who designates himself as Garth. You will proceed immediately to your starship in which you’ll place yourself under self-confinement under the protection of a Federation police officer, whose orders you will follow to the letter, until such time that we send for you to discuss this highly unusual and purposeful breach of regulations. I, Shrouda Petei do hereby present this official directive to Ambassador Carol; Kim and Warren of the ATP Squad, currently on extended leave of absence; Dr. Kartika, of Federation Medical; and Andrew, Maeve, and Muirne, telepaths from Earth who designate themselves the Tomorrow People. As designated leader of this entourage, do you accept these instructions as you have heard them?”

“As official Federation ambassador on sabbatical from Overmind, I, Carol, will adhere to this Federation directive and proceed immediately to the Starbird, and place myself under the protection and command of the designated Federation police official.”

Carol and Shrouda stared at each other for a tense quiet moment. Carol could see the disappointment in her friend’s eyes, which wasn’t unexpected as they had been such close allies and friends when she was getting used to fitting in with Federation policies and environment years ago. Carol closed her mind off as best she could, expecting her friend to state more.

“Off the record, I wish you could’ve trusted me with this endeavor you were going to initiate. I do have some pull with logistics and the overall supervisor of this facility. Regardless, you will submit to your Federation police official, as she will know exactly what you’ll need to do regarding your continuing endeavor. Once this whole situation has concluded, we should discuss the future of our association, Ambassador Carol,” Shrouda stated in as official voice she could muster.

“Indeed. I will look forward to this discussion, as much as you will. I do apologize for the personal slight I have initiated against you, and I bid you peace and longevity,” Carol said.

“Peace and longevity to you, always…Ambassador Carol.”

The two women looked at each other and slightly bowed at the head, their right-hand fingertips touching their own foreheads, and then their chest, before finally opening their arms wide, all the while keeping eye contact with each other with mutual respect.

Shrouda ordered her staff for departure. And while Carol watched, she could see the stiffness of her friend’s walk as she proceeded toward her building, no doubt having to file paperwork about this break in Federation protocol. 

Carol turned to her friends, who had wisely remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, waiting for Carol’s next move. “Come on, let’s head to the Starbird, then. And no talking or aggressive thoughts until we’re inside, please. We’re already in enough trouble as it is.” 

The puzzled looks she received was understandable, but they followed her demands to the letter. As they quietly began their walk to the aerial craft, Carol took one last look at her friend. She knew it was tough for Shrouda to have had to invoke Federation procedure against one of her dearest friends. Carol hoped there wouldn’t be too bad a reckoning over these events the next time they met.

Carol turned and walked hastily to the Starbird, moving swiftly up the ramp and climbing the wall ladder to the upper level. She came upon the group, to include the now present Staarla, who apparently were waiting for this Federation police official to begin her own statement of how these proceedings would go. So, it was quite the shocking surprise to see a familiar face as their temporary protector.

“Tricia!?”

Patricia Conway, who usually went by the name Tricia; former SIS agent, and currently Federation police officer, maintained her stern face and even tone in her voice.

“Due to the extreme importance of this breach of Federation protocol, an immediate investigation must be initiated. Therefore, by the authority granted by Federation Security and the Galactic Trig from Article 2, Section B, I hereby grant the Ambassador Carol party of eight, to return to their origin planet of Earth, so that I may investigate the proceedings and events to determine the reasoning of why this Omega level information was recovered under such unusual circumstances. The components needed to quell this medusa invasion your planet is currently experiencing has already been stored in your cargo hold. Judgment to be determined by myself as to whether these actions will or will not prompt an official inquiry and subsequent hearing to determine the legitimacy of said actions. Ambassador Carol, do you accept these words as spoken.”

Carol was having a very hard time containing her relief at this woman’s sight; but duty and protocol was still expected to be maintained, as everything within this moment was being recorded. “I, Ambassador Carol, do acknowledge these words, and we will immediatly acquiescent to this Federation officer’s demand.” Carol got everyone’s attention. “Everyone, prepare to leave Yrodan and determine our destination as Earth, Federation designate A430-73. We leave now and without delay.”

Everyone gave her an immediate acknowledgment and went to the front cockpits to warm up the engines for their launch.

Carol was about to give Tricia a hug but the Federation agent gave her a subtle shake of the head; as apparently, they were still being recorded as per Federation rules. However, she was sure that once they left Yrodan, she could officially leave the device off. The Federation ambassador quietly understood and made haste to the forward cockpit to help ready the Starbird for launch.

Tricia continued to stand in the main hold, watching the prep from a distance. The continued holographic presence of Staarla prompted her to turn her head toward her.

|Tricia Conway. It is very good to see you again. Did your mission with Astra Utana go well?|

Tricia smiled. “It went as well as could be expected, Staarla. Although, judging by this current situation, better than what’s currently being played out. Looking forward to hearing the story of this particular endeavor this group has gotten itself into.”

|Indeed|

Staarla responded as Kim’s fifteen second countdown commenced over the intercom. Once the Starbird lifted off and breezed through the atmosphere, Tricia then gave the recommended verified codes for its occupants to leave the system. After Tricia made an uncharacteristic show of turning off the recorder, the impromptu cheers began. The Federation police officer was also shocked to find many of the group either shaking her hand or giving her unexpected hugs, leaving her somewhat unbalanced and slightly blushing.

It was Carol who had to bring the celebration to its quick end, allowing Tricia to physically breathe and be receptive to what was currently going on regarding their serious situation.

“So, Tricia. How did you hear about us being on Yrodan?” Andrew asked.

“I hadn’t. I just happened to be accompanying the supply craft that just happened to have the compounds you were needing for this medusa invasion that’s going on. I finished my mission with Astra Utana and from where I was at, I figured it would be much quicker to hitch a ride and then transfer to another ship at Yrodan which would be passing near Earth’s system next week,” Tricia explained.

“You were coming back?” Kim asked.

“That was the plan. I wanted to check on a few personal…obligations on Earth. Possibly even try and make things right with John. I know we didn’t leave on decent terms and the news of his father had barely been released. But it seems that’s not all that’s been happening there. What have I missed, besides our new telepaths getting into the thick of things?” Tricia asked as she noticed Maeve and Muirne in the background.

Tricia looked at everyone and noticed the complex and varying degrees of reactions to her question. She looked concerned as Carol got to her feet.

“Warren, I need to discuss a few things with you, personally if you don’t mind. Kim, can you please fill Tricia in on what’s been happening this past week,” Carol abruptly said. “Excuse us, Tricia,” she said tersely as she made her way to the rear of the ship.

Tricia observed as Warren made a silent reaction of also apologizing to her as he followed the Federation ambassador down the hallway, and then down the wall ladder. She then observed the various states of emotion and thoughtfulness from the rest, until she finally settled her eyes on Kim.

“Well, I’ll start at the beginning. Settle yourself in, this story is going to take a while,” Kim said in a way which made Tricia’s insides nervous.

***

Warren came up to Carol, who was looking out at the calm greenery of the quickly receding sphere. 

“It’s amazing how a lovely planet such as this conceals such a deadly secret,” Carol softly said.

The face of Garth quickly flashed within Warren’s mind. “Ever find out why the Federation picked this planet to maintain a viopath?”

Carol turned her focus to her friend. “Narcissa explained the reason they did was to help Garth develop a visual sense of peace, as if that’s helpful or even attainable for a viopath. This planet is literally paradise in its weather, the mostly docile type of creatures that reside here, the fresh air. It’s been so many centuries since a viopath was purposefully kept around that all they had were old standards and guidelines regarding the care of a viopath.”

“Geez, Carol. You make it sound like the Federation is trying to maintain the health of a zoo animal,” Warren said.

“I suppose I did, at that. Anyway, as you know, much of the information regarding viopaths have been locked away so well, it usually takes a substantial amount of time to find the material in the Federation Archives. The Federation has been around for over one-hundred thousand years; the written and digital history maintained is immense. It’s one of the main reasons why you were on quarantine for those three months when you first came to work for the Federation, remember?” Carol said.

“I’ll never forget. It’s the main reason why I had such a tough time of it after leaving Earth. I still get a bit worked up over that period of time regarding how the Federation treated me. You would think with all that available and immense information at their fingertips, they would hire more archivists to organize and maintain all that knowledge,” Warren said.

“Indeed,” Carol said quietly.

Warren gazed at his friend’s face, visually confirming to the fact that Carol had other things of concern on her mind.

“When do you think your husband will find out about what we’ve done?”

Carol shook her head. “What I’ve done, you mean. And yes. I’m sure he’ll receive the message from Shrouda, the Trig, and the Federation before we arrive back on Earth.”

The two were quiet again as they mulled over their current circumstances happening back on Earth.

“What do you know about my sister?”

Warren was taken aback by Carol’s strength of tone and focus, unusual sounding even for one whose disposition was normally within solid and steady levels. For a split second, he was unsure of how to answer it, as he thought she was inquiring about her youngest sister, Dana. But unwillingly picking up on her surface thoughts and images, he knew her immediate concern was for Jennifer.

Carol continued. “There’s been a couple of times when I sensed she was…very uncomfortable and in turmoil about something; then there was the moment that you and Jennifer shared when we first encountered Garth. You were very protective of her, like you didn’t want her to do something she would come to regret. What do you know?”

“I think you should ask her yourself, Carol. In the big scheme of things, she and I barely know each other and I don’t believe she would be appreciative if I spoke of her challenges out of turn,” Warren said.

Carol couldn’t help but have an incredulous facial reaction to her close friend’s response. “Challenges…so there is something going on. After all we’ve gone through in the past year and our return since, and you’re not going to tell me what’s been affecting my own sister?”

Warren slowly crossed his arms around his chest. “No…I’m not.”

Carol, noticing the stern and shocked stare her friend gave, closed her eyes and released a slow breath, feeling a bit ashamed. “I’m sorry Warren. What I said…it was uncalled for.”

An immediate physical and telepathic relief filled the slightly tense environment between the two friends. 

“I understand. We’ve all been under intense stress this past week and we’re bound to say something extreme and out of character, which otherwise we wouldn’t under normal circumstances,” Warren said.

Carol nodded. “Not as extreme as what you went through with Garth. It’s been awhile since you’ve been that physically intense. Not since we made our escape from the Kulthan and Atlantis, I think. How are you feeling about all that?”

Warren shrugged. “Nothing I haven’t felt before. Like trying on an old shirt or riding a bicycle again. I have to admit, I’ve rather enjoyed the calm peacefulness I’ve been able to experience for the past five months since our return. But then…I rather enjoyed running roughshod against Garth too.” Warren focused on Carol. “I’m sure I freaked out Andrew, Maeve, and Muirne with these actions. They’re probably wondering what the heck are we doing with a telepath who is just as violent and brutal as a viopath. Wondering sometimes if Dr. Wilson is right about me. Just a guy of extremes, that’s me,” he said as he released a breath of frustration.

“Don’t say that. You do have control over your aggression. You’ve learned so much since leaving Earth and working with Kim. It’s not our genes, it’s our choice on how we act or react on these violent or peaceful tendencies. You know there are many telepaths who can utilize passive means to ensure that we can get our way, or utilize control over individuals. I’m sure Dr. Wilson knows this about us also, how else to explain various telepath actions over one-hundred thousand years of Federation history,” Carol commented.

“You worry about that happening with your son, Nova?” Warren asked.

Carol was quiet for a long moment, finally coming to a thought she been having for a long time. “I want my son to remember how I smell.”

Her answer caught Warren completely off guard and he focused an eye on her, curious and confused thoughts coming to the fore.

“It’s not enough that when we were taken into Earth’s past, Nova wasn’t able to telepathically bond with me in a timely manner; he wasn’t able to remember my smell. When I was little, there was a certain smell that my mum had. I’ve never asked her if it was from her usual perfume, soap, or laundry detergent she would use. But I always knew when she was around, or what clothes she wore. I was beginning to become aware of that with Nova when he was a newborn. There was a certain smell that was unique only to my son. I could never forget it, even when we were exiled in Earth’s past for a year. I want my son to have that memory like I have of my mum. That’s what I worry about with him right now,” Carol said.

“Wow,” was all that Warren could say of Carol’s unexpected response.

Carol smiled and gripped his arm in a loving way, as one would a close friend. “You’ll be saying that when you have your own kids someday.”

Warren shook his head. “No, I won’t be having kids. I can’t imagine having kids getting underfoot. Remembering how I was when I was growing up, no thanks. Besides, no reason to pass on that viopathic gene, right?”

Carol sadly regarded her oldest friend. She never knew the extent that Warren had about having these abilities, unique even from the majority of telepaths. Still, they had truly come a long way since their first eventful encounter on the winter ice on the Serpentine all those years ago. Kim’s voice came on the intercom, alerting the crew of their approaching coordinates to enter hyperspace.

“We should get back to it. Figure out what’s on the data and get some rest,” Carol said.

“We’re going to get through this, Carol. We’ll make sure everyone will have a chance to inhale the goodness of their smelly kids,” Warren reassured his friend, a slight smile cracking his serious visage.

“I know we will,” Carol said as she intertwined her arm in his as they continued their walk back to the front cockpits.

***

Havenshire Castle  
Scotland

Saturday

Elizabeth continued to stare at the unconscious figures of Tyso, his sister Evergreen, and Mike’s sister, Ann. With all her heart, she wished there was something she could’ve done for these trio of kids. She absently watched as Kenny’s sister, Aisha, was checking readouts and the equipment, necessary to keep the three physically stable after their horrific run-in by the medusas a few days ago. She watched as Autumn quietly placed her hands over Evergreen and Ann, using her extraordinary healing powers to help keep them alive. Elizabeth realized that while Autumn had much stronger abilities then the regular telepath, there had been something about the medusas which kept her healing abilities from prompting the kids to come out of their coma. She released a tired breath as she heard TIM state his hourly report to Aisha. The combination of all three working on keeping her friends alive had yielded a minimal of positive results; whatever the medusas had done was working much slower, enabling Autumn to only have to come every two hours instead of every hour, such as it was when she first started her healing sessions. It had been a welcome relief when Mike volunteered himself to help out with the monitoring so Aisha could get some proper sleep for a bit. She caught Aisha giving her a reassuring smile. Elizabeth smiled back as the young teen of fourteen came up to her.

“No change to a more healthier status, unfortunately; although they haven’t gotten worse and have stayed within the numbers needed to keep them alive. Brain activity is good, thankfully, also within the numbers. I don’t feel like I’ve been able to do much,” Aisha said.

“You’ve done plenty, Aisha. There’s a reason why your mum wanted you to stay here. You’re very familiar with this equipment,” Elizabeth said.

“Yes, and that’s all. If something happens to any of them, I won’t be able to do much. I’m really thankful for TIM and Autumn’s help in all this. I may have a photographic memory when it comes to memorizing all the parts of the human anatomy, but actually and actively participating in anything other than CPR and minor surgery like stitching a cut; I just don’t feel like I’m making the grade,” Kenny’s sister proclaimed.

“You’re going to school to study biology soon aren’t you? I always said you were a smart young lady,” Elizabeth asked, remembering her short time as Aisha’s student teacher six years ago.

“I am. I recall that you were to start your classes last week?” Aisha asked.

“Not until these attacks of medusas are quelled and Jedikiah is locked up,” Elizabeth said.

Aisha released an unwilling yawn as she nodded in agreement with Elizabeth’s statement. She quickly glanced around and saw her brother on the far side of the massive Lab. While he had the wall television on, she doubted he was actually watching anything. 

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on my grumpy brother. It’s been too long since he picked on me,” Aisha said.

“Aisha, when you can, get some rest. I notice you’ve done a double shift. I need you to be clear headed in case…” Elizabeth stopped herself.

Aisha tenderly grasped the older woman’s arm. “I will, as long as you do. You were with me the whole time here in the Lab. Let Mike take over for a bit, because we all are going to need you if things start getting active again.”

Elizabeth looked over to another part of the Lab where Mike was seated in one of the tables, working on something. “I will.”

Elizabeth continued to watch as Aisha went to her brother on the couch, giving him a firm punch on the shoulder, before giving him a tender shoulder hug. So intent was she to observe this, that she hadn’t noticed Mike come up to her. She gave him a tired smile instead of an upcoming yawn that was desperately attempting to come out.

“Get some sleep, Elizabeth. I can watch things down here,” Mike said.

“Thank you, Mike.”

Mike went into the medical area of the Lab, taking a seat next to his sister. Autumn would be using her abilities for another few minutes by the time Elizabeth ascended the stairs into the castle itself. He was feeling like he was in his own tug of war regarding his developing singing career and his family. For the first time, he was worried about how his lies were affecting the band. Surely, they should’ve realized that something peculiar was going on with him this past week. He felt that he was able to temporarily stifle their curiosity by telling them about the family emergency which was going on with Ann. Byron Lucifer seemed to be a bit annoyed about it, but grudgingly understood, only with the reassurance from the band that they would continue to come along on his tour to Amsterdam. Mike turned his eyes upon the others, who almost looked like they were sleeping peacefully in their own beds. He felt bad for Evergreen, Tyso and their families. Tyso in particular, as it seemed his father was always questioning Elizabeth’s motives and wanting to take the fight to the people who attacked him on his farm. He personally noticed that it was “attacked him” and not attacked his kids. Not for the first time did Mike wonder how Tyso was able to maintain a personal relationship with his dad. 

Mike looked down at his serene looking younger sister. ‘Ann without an ‘E’,’ she was always fond of saying this to people she had met or been introduced to. A warm smile came unbidden to his face at the memory. 

“She’s going to be fine.”

Mike responded to the abrupt interruption by Autumn. He noticed she was tired, but still alert; and considering that she had been constantly applying her healing abilities to all three individuals approximately every two hours for almost 48 hours, that was saying a lot.

“I hope so, Autumn,” Mike said. “To be honest, I’m not really sure what I would do if anything happened to Ann.”

Autumn was reminded of her own connected relationship with Ariel. The tone which Mike’s voice was when mentioning her sister, assured her that Ann’s older brother had indeed, cared and loved her like a big brother should.

“It’s one of the reasons I’ve wanted to perform, you know? Mum has always had it rough. No husband and no dad for Ann and me. Always felt like I wasn’t good at anything else, but I could write poems. My teachers were surprisingly impressed. But being a poet while living in the more tough part of town doesn’t get much respect from people. Never was one for fighting, so I practiced banging on the drums, getting quite good actually. Work on my voice, learning music when I have the time. Self-taught. I know if I can just work at finding the right tunes with the band, we can make it. I can make enough money where my mum wouldn’t have to work so hard and Ann could go to college. She’s always had it in her mind to go to college and become the next Prime Minister, can you believe that? Of course, she states that she would have to get her law degree first before getting into politics. Ann’s always had a good head on her shoulders like that. She gets quite perturbed when she sees someone being treated wrong, very sensitive to perceived injustices just where we live alone. She just wants to defend people that can’t defend themselves, is that too much to ask? I mean, I don’t believe in that all too much. I’ve seen a lot to know about how the rich and poor have differing ways of receiving or getting justice. But I can’t not allow her to at least try, right?” Mike looked up at Autumn, who was quietly, but patiently listening to everything he was saying. “You’ll help her live, right?”

“You’ll persevere, as will your sister,” Autumn firmly said with strong confidence in her tired voice.

Mike unconsciously bit his lip, nodding his head in gratefulness at Autumn’s response; and realizing that he probably sounded a bit like some rambling nutter, and became a bit self-conscious. He felt a hand on his shoulder and sympathetic eyes looking at him.

“There’s never anything wrong with stating your feelings regarding a member of your family, Mike. You’re a good young man,” Autumn said with a warm and caring smile.

Again, Mike nodded gratefully. “I’ll keep watch here while you sleep.”

***

Reaching the door which led out to the main floor of Havenshire, Elizabeth emerged and breathed in the cooler air of the environment. Since moving here, she had always felt the castle was a bit on the humid and drafty side. For a bit, she wondered how Eli and his great grandniece Iona had managed to heat the place up during the winter. Being in Northern Scotland, she was quite aware of how cold it could get here. 

Elizabeth was concerned about the lack of communication coming from Carol and Warren in the past twelve hours. She had gotten a quick word that they had the compounds they needed and nothing more. While she didn’t want to do anything before they got back, she couldn’t help shake the feeling that she needed to be more active in finding John. Based on research from the past few days, it was established as a solid theory that John was likely being held in the Next Phase Foundation facility in Frankfurt. But not knowing what awaited any of the Tomorrow People if they decided to investigate, she was unwilling to take that chance. But then if she didn’t do anything, the chances of John not coming back were ever stronger. She felt they all were living on borrowed time, as there hadn’t been any attacks since their last confrontation at the Boswell Farm a few days ago. She didn’t want to imagine what John was possibly going through if Jedikiah was using this lull in his war to pry information from him in any way he could. She couldn’t help but shudder at the thought.

“Elizabeth, is there anything I can do for you?”

Elizabeth turned to find Eli Goldberg, looking at her with concern, standing in the doorway.

“Oh, hello Eli. You’re back early from your trip to town,” Elizabeth said.

“Well, yes I am. You look tired my dear. Why don’t you come to the sitting room. I’ll get you some fluids. Come along.”

Elizabeth was too tired to argue with the older man so she decided to take him up on his offer. She allowed herself to be led into the warm and decorative area. 

“I won’t be but a few minutes,” Eli said.

Elizabeth took the nearest chair parallel to the window looking outside in the forest. In the distance outside, it looked like a few of the relatives of the Tomorrow People were having some type of discussion. By the looks of it, it seemed quite intense. She couldn’t blame them; their life for the past few days had been violently uprooted, so it was only natural that they would find some common ground to talk out their concerns. She turned back around and settled into the plush area of the couch. 

There were so many things on her mind, and not for the first time, she wished John were here to help take some of the burden off. Stephen was doing well taking charge when he needed to, and she was grateful for the young man taking some of that burden off of her. For the first time, after all these years of being a Tomorrow Person, Elizabeth realized what John must have been going through during those early years when it was just him, Carol, and Kenny. The responsibility was immense, making sure the few who were discovered and known would not become targeted or used by the government. Now there were more than a dozen which she was now, responsible for. Having to make literal life and death decisions.

Jedikiah had declared a personal war against the Tomorrow People and they had barely been able to hold their own against his many and varied attacks. It was obvious, to her, that Jedikiah had planned this conflict of vengeance for a long time, catching them all off guard. 

“You are very worried.”

Elizabeth turned her head to regard the old man, who set down a tray containing tea making items and a tall glass of water within. She looked curiously at him as he handed her the glass with water.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been to England so I wasn’t sure about the stereotype of having tea during challenging times. But regardless, you should have some water, my dear. At the very least, to keep the body well hydrated and healthy,” Eli said.

Elizabeth released a breath of friendly chuckle as she drank deeply from the proffered glass. 

“You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, my dear,” Eli said.

Elizabeth quietly regarded the owner of the Havenshire Estate. “We’re in a war Eli, against an insane shape changing robot who truly wants to kill us.”

“Then you must kill him back!”

The abrupt voice caused both occupants on the couch to jump slightly as Elizabeth and Eli turned to see Tyso’s father, Sylvester Boswell, silhouetting an imposing figure within the frame of the open doors. Elizabeth could see a few others behind him, somewhat keeping their distance. The same intensity she had visually noticed earlier with them, was now being physically and vocally experienced now, towards her.

Elizabeth smoothly got up to acknowledge the older gypsy. “Please, take a seat. You’ve all been here a few days with barely any of your concerns attended to.”

Elizabeth could sense the anxiety of fearfulness coming from members of the Boswell, Bell, and Schumacher families. As they took their place throughout the room, she reminded herself to truly listen to what they invariably would demand to say to her. 

“My son is unconscious and dying in your basement. My family…our families are here because one of your enemies is trying to kill you people. There is no question on what you must do. You must fight back! Fight fire with fire, isn’t that how it’s done?” Mr. Boswell’s voice was unyielding and intimidating as he looked around to the others in the room for support.

“Mr. Boswell, we are doing everything we can to acquire the necessary medical items to ensure Tyso and Evergreen’s well-being. Ms. Bell, I can assure you we will bring your daughter Ann back to us. We have them on constant medical surveillance, they are never left alone. We have you here for your protection – “

Mr. Boswell interrupted Elizabeth. “Protection from what? Those weird…alien things? Just kill them, that’s all you need to do. Tyso always said you lot couldn’t kill, but I’ve never believed that. He’s still able to help us acquire meat from our hunts we do. Sounds more like some simple and foolish…fantasy rule to me.”

Elizabeth continued on with her practiced and calm diplomatic voice, but her patience was wearing a bit thin; whether it was from the constant pressure and stress of her leadership, her physical tiredness, or the continued and focused ignorance Tyso’s father was subjecting her to, she was unsure specifically. But she could tell she would accept only so much bad attitude and attacks on her friends, who were doing everything in their power to save lives. She decided to try a different tactic as she focused on the other two families around the room.

“I have been in contact with Carol and Warren, they are on their way back with the medical supplies needed to revive your children in the Lab. They will be here within the next 24 hours. I personally gave the order to bring all of you here because you are family to our friends; you’re their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. They’ll need the comfort and assurance that only you can give them once they start their recovery. This attack was focused specifically at the Boswell Farm and the Hathaway Estate because many of you were there, your locations known. We believe it was no coincidence that the attack was conducted on the property during those specific times. I do want to talk to you about how all of you are doing, however. Is there anything myself or Stephen, or any of the others can do for you?” Elizabeth asked.

“Were there any other families attacked?” Frank Schumacher, Hans’s dad asked.

“The Hathaway residence was destroyed, their house exploded. The parents of Carol, Jennifer, and Dana are currently talking to the authorities and investigators, attempting to figure out why this happened. We’re quite sure that Jedikiah had something to do with it. However, we have contacted and warned the families of the others to be aware of what’s been happening, and to be observant of their surroundings,” Elizabeth said.

“That’s horrible,” Mike’s mother, Deborah Bell, said tentatively as she raised her hand. Elizabeth acknowledged her by nodding her head.

“I’m wondering why we weren’t attacked in our own home. I thought many of you had relatives who lived in England, near London,” Deborah wondered out loud.

“TIM has come up with a theory that Jedikiah only had information he acquired from the last time he came after us over four years ago. Back then, we suspected that the reason he didn’t come after our families then was because aspects of his memory were damaged. Anything that he might have acquired when he had first come to Earth back in 73’ were lost to him,” Elizabeth said.

Deborah shook her head slowly. “I don’t think I understand. You make this Jedikiah sound like he’s some kind of…killer computer.”

Elizabeth peripherally observed Eli, who continued to sit quietly in a chair he had moved to when she was getting the interrogation treatment from the group. She was aware that he could be of a supportive nature and still refrain from commenting, realizing that this was a battle she would have to take charge of. His presence actually gave her more focused energy, as she took a breath and gave the parents an abbreviated account of the time Jedikiah had come to Earth and his conflicts with the Tomorrow People. Once she was finished, she observed the differing and subtle reactions of each of them. It was obvious that Tyso and Mike didn’t talk much about their time with the Tomorrow People; talk of aliens, traveling to other planets, and time travel were subjects not frequently on their minds regarding their children’s activities throughout their time with the telepaths. 

“This is poppycock! You talk like this is a regular occurrence every week of your lives,” Mr. Boswell blurted out, undeterred even when his wife Sophia grasped his arm as if to calm him down. “Proving my point that you kids should retain help from people who can take charge and protect you, even if it’s from the government. How else to stop this war, but to give back one-hundred times!”

“The Tomorrow People, your children, do not and will not involve themselves in needless conflict. We are not in the habit of waging wars, and certainly not escalating them.” Elizabeth’s tone had found the needed quality to reprimand and rebuke Mr. Boswell’s uninformed remark.

Elizabeth realized she finally had Mr. Boswell’s attention, she continued. “The Tomorrow People are not here to attain control, power, or money from the world. We’re here to help the world find better ways to co-exist, better ways to solve complex societal problems facing the world currently, and absolutely better ways of resolving conflict. I realize you’re not used to thinking of the big picture in regards to the world, but that is our main mission, your children’s mission. Our special powers allow us the benefit to find ways of using our intelligence, creativity, and problem-solving to help the world overcome its varied issues. Would you have me order everyone who is left to attack Jedikiah and whoever else he has allied himself with? Would you want to see the destruction and violence that other people would find themselves in if we decide to bring the war out into the open. Because you know that with every battle, it’s not just the soldiers who are affected, you have civilians and non-combatants who will suffer from the violence that will invariably come their way from these actions, every time. This is not our ideology, Mr. Boswell. The Tomorrow People are here to break this world’s violent cycle, perpetrated continuously through centuries of war, killing, and conquest. The violence will stop with us; and until such time that we are able to prove to the world that we’re it’s last best chance for peace, I and others like me, will do what we can to protect and teach our friends, your children, that we can continue to follow this conceptual path.”

“What’s going on here?”

Everyone turned to see Mike standing in the doorway, Stephen and Alexio looking on from behind.

“What’s going on, you’re all quite loud enough to be heard down the hall,” Mike said.

“Just having a civil discussion about who and what the Tomorrow People really are,” Elizabeth said, noticing the impatient look on Stephen. “What’s happened?”

Mike allowed Stephen to move forward as he went to his mom, who had an anxious-filled look on her features. She quickly held on to her only son’s hand as he sat down next to her. Alexio, who had heard the majority of Elizabeth’s dialog stood to the side near the entrance, watching the proceedings with a focused interest.

Stephen came into the room, slightly turning so everyone could hear him. “We got word from Carol and Warren, they have the supplies needed and Dr. Wilson is positive that she has the information necessary to bring Evergreen and Ann back to consciousness.”

Elizabeth peripherally looked about, noticing and emotionally sensing the slight relief being released from various members of the families here. She continued her focus on Stephen, seeing what looked like a subtle distressed look on his features.

“Anything else, Stephen?”

Stephen caught himself glancing at the Boswell family, who also noticed and waited on his next words with bated breath.

“Tyso is awake and – “

Sophia Boswell clasped her hands in front of her with relief, immediately pulling on her husband to join her in welcoming back their oldest son back in the world of the living. Everyone heard the grumps and aggravation Sylvester Boswell was speaking in as the couple quickly went out the door, proceeding in the direction where the stairs to the Lab went.

The rest of the room initiated a welcome, but muted cheer of the good fortune the obviously distressed and temperamental couple had acquired. Stephen was unsure whether to tell Elizabeth the remaining status of Tyso. 

Deborah Bell seemed to sense this and came to her feet. “Come along Mike, I’m hungry and could use a bite to eat; you can show me where the kitchen is. Mr. Schumacher, would you care to join us?”

“I shall. I just need to check on my sons. Make sure they’re all awake,” Mr. Schumacher said as he also got up from his seat.

“Elizabeth, I do appreciate how you’ve protected and looked after my son and all these kids here. I can’t imagine what you’re going through at this moment, and I hope I never will. But I just wanted to say thank you, I’m sure Ann would say the same,” Mrs. Bell said.

Elizabeth gave Deb a nod of acknowledgment as she left with Mike and Mr. Schumacher.

“Elizabeth, you did well with your stand,” Eli said. “I don’t just invite any old houseguest to reside on my premises, my dear.”

Elizabeth smiled as Eli put a comforting hand on her shoulder, before exiting out the room. As he emerged into the hallway to give Elizabeth and Stephen some privacy, he almost bumped into Alexio.

“Excuse me young man…Alexio, is it?” Eli asked.

“Um…yes, it is,” the young Argentinean replied.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Eli asked.

“Yeah…I was looking for the kitchen. Dana wanted a snack,” Alexio said.

“Well, then. I shall provide guidance to your quest then. Follow me, young man.”

Alexio took one final look at Elizabeth and Stephen, the former seemed to be upset about what Stephen had told her. She rested her head on his shoulder while he placed comforting hands around her own. He made the decision to not go out of his way to find out, as bad news seemed to be the order of the day of recent times. His only concern now was to take care of Dana and make her life a bit more bearable. He followed Eli down the hall.

***

It was just ten minutes later when Elizabeth came down to the Lab with Stephen by her side. She went straight to the medical area to find Tyso awake, his parents and younger brother with him. Mrs. Boswell was still crying while Mr. Boswell was doing all he could to calm his wife down; Aisha was doing all she could to gently ease them out the room, all the while explaining that their son would continue to need rest. Tyso looked at Elizabeth, noticing what looked to be tear-streaked eyes, and gave her a weak smile as she came over to him and held his hand.

“I don’t have my special powers anymore, Elizabeth,” Tyso said with a sad smile.

“Yes…Stephen told me. Overall, how are you physically feeling? You had us all quite concerned,” Elizabeth said.

Tyso looked around slowly, as if still trying to acclimate himself to his physical condition. “I don’t remember much. But now that I don’t have my special powers, how will I be able to help you all.”

Aisha came up and gaining Tyso’s consent, injected him with something which would help ease his anxiety.

“I’ll stop by later, Tyso. You get some rest,” Elizabeth said softly as she brushed a stray hair from his eye.

“Elizabeth,” Tyso said softly as he gently grasped her wrist. “I’ll be fine, I will. Don’t worry.”

Elizabeth nodded her head sympathetically as Aisha pulled her to the side, a small distance from Tyso. 

“Elizabeth, I honestly can’t say if this will be a permanent effect of Tyso’s encounter with the medusa. Personally, I don’t know enough about these creatures except what I’ve read and seen with these genetically altered ones. I wish I could tell you more. But the main thing, is that he is alive and by the looks of it, he will recover. Going by the data here, his body is coming closer to normal healthy numbers.”

“This is the important part, thank you Aisha,” Elizabeth said as she looked around for a particular person. “Where’s Autumn?”

“Once Tyso came awake, she decided to head back to her room up top. She said she needed to sleep for an hour. I told her she needed to sleep for more time but she insisted that it would only be for an hour,” Aisha said.

“Well, we’ll let her sleep until such time as we need her. From what we’ve noticed, she won’t need to use her healing abilities on Evergreen or Ann for awhile. Is your brother still down here, I don’t see him anywhere?” Elizabeth wondered.

“Sure, he’s on the couch on the other side…oh, he’s not there; wait, I see him, he’s over near the jaunting pad,” Aisha said as she pointed to a corner in the Lab.

“Thank you, Aisha,” Elizabeth said as she studied the young girl’s appearance. “You make sure you get some rest also.”

“Mum is coming home very soon, I can manage until then,” Aisha reassured her.

Elizabeth nodded, realizing from prior experience that it would probably be quite useless to argue against a Wilson. She smiled and turned, proceeding directly to where Kenny was. 

Kenny looked up from where he was seated as Elizabeth reached to where he was, he stood up, anxious to once again attempt to convince Elizabeth to allow him to reconnoiter the facility in Frankfurt.

“Kenny, how prepped are you to go investigate the Next Phase facility?”

The former Federation ambassador was somewhat shocked at Elizabeth’s question, which he immediately got over. “I’m set. I have a way to get close to the building and sense if John is in there.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Elaborate.”

“I talked to Hans whom I was going to take with me, but his brother Joseph has intimate knowledge of the sewer system in the city. Apparently, he has friends who do “goofy and stupid” things there and he knows of a few tunnels which can get close enough to the building from underground. I’ve already programmed the matter transporter to assist in him getting there with me. I’ve also had TIM access the Frankfurt city computers to come up with the architectural layout of the building. I’m hoping I can be close enough to come up with a three-dimensional holographic map of the layout, much like I did at the place where Autumn was captured and held by Major Turner back in March,” Kenny said.

“I’m concerned about you taking a non-telepathic along with you,” Elizabeth said.

“Which is why this will be strictly a scouting mission, also, I’ll have Autumn with me so we will be fine. I’m thinking it should only take an hour at the most,” Kenny said.

“I want you to take Dana instead,” Elizabeth said.

Kenny raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? Is she up for something like this? She hasn’t been doing too well with everything that’s been going on lately. I’ve noticed how she’s been regarding the status of her parents and home, and then she’s been having issues with her sisters. Seems like this would be a bit too much for her?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Autumn is tired and I want her well rested in case anything major happens with Evergreen and Ann. Since you’ve stated this is purely a scouting mission, you should have no fear of encountering anyone who works there, because you won’t purposely be looking for conflict, correct?”

“That’s true. A simple in and out type of reconnaissance. Still, why Dana? Why not Alexio or even Hans since he knows Frankfurt just as well as his brother?”

“Dana has a precog sense, much like her sister, Carol. I think she could prompt a confirmation on whether John is in the building or not. She believes that she has maintained some type of telepathic connection with John from his and Carol’s augmentation of her precog abilities; and Carol seemed to agree, she stated this much to me just before her and the others left for Yrodan. Also, I want her to start believing in her gifts; they’re a part of her now and she can’t run away from them any longer, she needs to get used to them. Sometimes, you have to get back on the horse,” Elizabeth explained.

Kenny made a motion with his hand, stroking his chin in deep thought. “With our line of work, we don’t have much of a choice. Anyway, something like a long-distance token object reading, which could work much better than what my holographic map visual could come up with. With dirt and concrete in between when we’re down below, it’ll take the map visual quite longer to come up with the plans. Will she want to come along, though? She’s been pretty out of sorts, especially when her sisters left on their mission.”

“Leave that to me…” Elizabeth said as she glanced back at toward the few people gathered around the tables talking. “…and Stephen.”

***

It had only taken fifteen minutes for Dana to prepare herself for her mission with Kenny and Hans’s brother Joseph. It hadn’t taken much convincing on Stephen’s part to prompt her to take a stand against her fearfulness. She figured if her older sister could confront Jedikiah three times and live to tell the tale, and her other sister, Jennifer, could confront the same viopath twice, she should be able to do something as simple as recon to find their leader John.

As Dana was making sure her stun gun was secure on her hips, she noticed Hans and Alexio watching her with anxiousness. “You know, I don’t need a babysitter, guys. I’ll handle this okay.”

“Oh, I know,” Hans said. “Literally, just a walk in the park.”

“Yeah,” Alexio said.

Dana stopped what she was doing and grasped the hand of each of her friends, gripping them reassuringly. “Alexio, it’s okay. You’re coming along fine from your encounter with Final Thoughts. It’s not your fault that it’s such an intense experience. You’re allowed to give yourself time to recover. Can’t be a tough guy all your life.”

Alexio gave her a slight, self-assured smile, understanding what she had been saying. Hans, on the other hand, was still all cheerfulness.

“Sounds like you’re accepting your hero path. Does this mean you’ll put some of your essence in the Teepuh Crystal which Autumn gave you a few months ago?”

“You need to stop with that “essence in the Teepuh Crystal” schtick. I will do it at my own good time, if I do it at all,” Dana said, slightly annoyed at her friend’s continued insistence on this specific topic.

“Yep, by the sound of her tone, she’s ready to begin,” Hans quipped.

Realizing she had been baited, by both of them, she suddenly reached out to both and drew them into a quick group hug, before disengaging herself from them. 

“You two really get on my nerves…it’s probably why you’re developing into my best friends,” Dana said as she secured her stun gun and turned to step onto the jaunting pad.

“May the Force be with you,” Hans said.

“Ugh, no reward is worth this,” Alexio said with false sarcasm as he physically turned Hans around to walk back to the tables behind them.

It was at that time which Stephen and Joseph had come down and also stepped on the jaunting pad.

Hans stopped, turning around to face Dana. “You really meant that?” 

Dana looked like she began to nod her head, but her face comically contorted and she quickly shook her head side to side instead. “No.”

Hans had started to develop a disappointment on his face until Alexio shoved his shoulder into him, forcing him to look at her again, a smile developing causing him to realize she had teased him once again.

“We’re really going to have to work on that superhero power of naivety you seem to possess,” Dana said as she shook her head in mock disapproval.

“Hah! Good luck with that,” Joseph said as he was assisted with his matter transporter by Kenny.

Elizabeth, Stephen and Mike had come up to stand next to Hans and Alexio.

“Remember, don’t make telepathic contact with John, even if you hear him. We don’t know if they have those telepathic listeners near their vicinity,” Elizabeth reminded Dana, who nodded her head.

“You’re sure you don’t need any of us to come along?” Stephen asked.

Kenny shook his head. “Nope. The less people we have the better. I wouldn’t even be taking Joseph with me but like he’s explained, he knows those tunnels like the back of his hand. In and out, we won’t be more than an hour, tops.”

“Anything you want us to tell your mum if she makes contact before you come back?” Mike asked.

Kenny told Joseph and Dana to prepare to jaunt. Making eye contact with Mike, he responded.

“Sure, just tell her….’hello.’”

Kenny raised his chin showing an exaggerated smile, followed by a hand wave and closed eyes, as he and the others disappeared in front of the telepaths left behind.

Mike slowly shook his head. “Considering all they’ve been through this past week; they do seem to have a peculiar comedic timing.”

“Quite the wit,” Stephen said with fondness in his voice.

“Right, c’mon you lot. We can look over some of the official architectural schematics that TIM printed out and see if we might be able to come up with a theory of where they’re holding John. You too also, Hans and Alexio,” Elizabeth commanded.

As the fivesome quick paced to the tables underneath TIM, Elizabeth was reminded of a quote that had told her about when Stephen was undercover at Glen College investigating the Doomsday Men. 

If I were fierce and bald and short of breath, I’d live with scarlet Majors at the base and speed glum heroes up the line of death. Elizabeth couldn’t remember the rest, except for what she assumed was the ending. And when the war is done and youth stone dead, I’d toddle safely home and die in bed.

Elizabeth took another look at the empty jaunting pad, questioning to herself if she did the correct thing in sending them off. In the end, she reluctantly agreed that it was something that had to be done, as doing nothing was not an option. For John’s sake, and hers and the others, she hoped she had picked the path of least resistance, which prompted everyone to make it home safe. She quickly turned back around and headed towards the tables where the others were organizing the physical plans of the building.

***

Frankfurt, Germany  
Sewers near Next Phase Foundation

The appearance of Kenny, Dana, and Joseph at a small park startled a group of squirrels that immediately scrambled up the nearest tree. While Kenny was taking time to make sure Dana was doing alright, Joseph was looking around to get their bearings, finally spotting the direction he was to go. Getting the telepaths’ attention, he led them to a more secluded area of the park, going down a hill and toward a small creek that led into a concrete tunnel.

“You know where we are,” Kenny stated.

“Yeah. My friends and I have been coming here for quite a few years. Pretty sure that’s the building just down the street, yes?” Joseph asked as he pointed to a collection of buildings ahead of them.

Kenny could just barely make out the three-story Next Phase Foundation facility. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it, although it looked to have been constructed in a way that didn’t correspond with the common architecture of the surrounding neighborhood.

“Yeah. You know the way, correct?” Kenny asked.

“Certainly. Let’s go,” Joseph said. 

Joseph bade them to follow him into the tunnel, releasing a lock which obviously had been ajar for years. Once inside the darkened passageway, Dana turned on her small flashlight so they could find their footing. Joseph knew exactly how to get to the bottom of the building so well, he probably didn’t even require the flashlight that Dana was holding. Once there, he pointed out that they were directly next to the building.

Kenny turned to Dana. “Okay, while I hopefully can get a decent holographic image of the environment within, you look for John. You sure you up for this?”

Dana nodded with a firm conviction. “I can do this. I’ll just need for everyone to shut up while I get into my mode.”

Joseph looked at her, and then at Kenny giving him an impressed look. Kenny nodded and proceeded to turn on the hologram application on his jaunting band. 

The only noise being heard were the various drops of water hitting puddles or concrete. Joseph observed his brother’s friends, doing their focused, individual jobs. He tilted his head a bit as he began to see a yellow/orange colored holographic image coalesce above Kenny’s jaunting band. He was beginning to understand why Hans was so enamored with these people and their devices used. 

Dana was beginning to relax. Eventually, even the quiet actions of Kenny and Joseph seemed to go by the wayside as she began to reach out with her telepathic mind. She was never sure how she was able to access her precog abilities. However, she was quite sure her connection with John was real. The dreams she had about him lately had just confirmed that he was still alive. However, thoughts of the explosion of her childhood home was also something she had predicted from a dream she had; which worried her because she also saw the cause of the destruction was by Jedikiah destroying himself, but not before he had broken Alexio’s neck. She continued to focus on John, remembering his voice, his mannerisms, his walk. Her mind continued to calm.

***

Elizabeth, Mike, and Stephen were continuing to check out the architectural plans of the Next Phase facility. Hans and Alexio were also seated at the table, observing and occasionally interjecting with their own ideas of what a particular room was for. 

|I am receiving a communication from Carol and Warren|

TIM abruptly said.

“Are you able to put it on the video, TIM?” Elizabeth asked.

|Certainly|

The video monitor over the tables eased downward. The image of familiar friends came onscreen.

“Hello everyone. We just passed our moon and we should be coming in orbit within the next few minutes or so,” Carol said.

“This is unexpected, we weren’t anticipating your arrival for another few hours. Was Dr. Wilson able to come up with the medical information we need?” Elizabeth asked.

The group in the Lab observed the physician move toward the forward cockpit, her face taking up most of the screen.

“Elizabeth, I was able to attain all the information regarding Garth’s bacterium and I am certain I can come up with an antidote to bring Tyso, Ann, and Evergreen to consciousness,” Dr. Wilson replied.

Hans could actually feel relief permeate the environment at the physician’s words.

“Kartika, Tyso has already woken up. But he doesn’t have his special powers anymore,” Elizabeth said with brief sadness in her tone.

The group in the Lab could see the subtle reaction to Elizabeth’s statement. 

“It might just be an aftereffect of the medusa physically penetrating into Tyso’s brain. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. We’ll be coming in soon and I’ll get straight to work on the antidote. As long as he’s recovering properly, we shouldn’t have to worry,” Dr. Wilson said.

“Of course. We’ll see you soon, then,” Elizabeth said.

“Hey, Elizabeth,” Warren spoke out suddenly. “We picked up a hitchhiker. You might want to put her to work in the gallows to help pay her way back to Earth.”

Elizabeth couldn’t figure out what Warren was talking about until she saw…her.

“Tricia Conway. You are indeed a surprise,” Elizabeth said with so neutral a voice that it even caught her off-guard.

“I’m sure I could do a few things in the gallows, but I suspect you could use my considerable talents in more meaningful ways. It’s good to see you too, Elizabeth,” Tricia said with the same neutrality.

Elizabeth nodded. “Yes. We’ll expect you soon within – “

|Elizabeth, Kenny is in trouble|

Elizabeth could see the group in the Starbird immediately tense up physically at TIM’s abrupt statement. Elizabeth told everyone to quickly link.

[Kenny, what’s wrong?]

Elizabeth asked.

[Elizabeth. Dana’s confirmed that John is in the building, but she’s somehow stuck within his mind. She was doing fine until she made contact. She’s unable to pull out]

[Are you able to get out of there?]

Stephen asked.

[No, her powers are too out of control. It’s taking everything I have to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself]

Kenny said.

[Standby, Kenny. I’m going to have TIM jaunt you in. We can take care of Dana better once she’s here]

Elizabeth said.

[Great, that will - ]

The group felt the immediate silence coming from the other end.

[Kenny…talk to us. Are you there?]

Hans asked, slightly panicked.

|I am unable to pick up on their location. Their telepathic and jaunting band frequencies are being jammed|

TIM said.

Mike looked at Elizabeth. “Medusas. It has to be.”

|I have also picked up on the same frequency from orbit, which was utilized when Warren and Kim were knocked unconscious in Chicago|

“TIM, send us the location. We can blast it out of orbit,” Warren said quickly.

|Sending you the coordinates. Judging by the buildup intensity, it will fire within the next fifteen seconds, much too late for the Watchdog Station to prevent it from operating| 

Stephen spoke up. “Elizabeth, if that beam hits them while they’re around a medusa, it could kill them.”

“We’re on our way, standby,” Kim said as she broke video and audio contact.

The group in the Lab were forced to sit and wait, for there was nothing they could do at this time Elizabeth felt it would be the longest wait of their lives.

***

Warren and Kim were already priming the mining lasers at the front of the ship when Carol reacted to an image in front.

“There it is,” Carol pointed outward.

“Right, getting ready in three…two…one. Fire!” Warren ordered in clipped tones.

Kim pressed the controls, but nothing came out. 

“What the hell?” Warren shouted.

Staarla’s holographic image appeared to the side of Carol.

|The mining lasers are inop, due to an earlier electronic disposition which Andrew and Jennifer had attempted to repair|

“I’m such a bampot!” Andrew exclaimed. “I thought we repaired it!”

The group had only one second to look at each other in panicked expression, before the Starbird suddenly jolted forward, destabilizing their inner ship’s gravity for a second.

“Putting all power to the front shield. I need everyone to place their hands on the telepathic pads and reinforce the tech shield with a telekinetic induced force field,” Warren ordered as he took over completely.

“Lowering the front cockpit blast shield,” Kim said as she braced for immediate impact.

“Are you crazy? You’re going to ram the satellite?” Dr. Wilson demanded as she made sure her security straps were locked in place around her.

Both Warren and Kim took a quick glance at each other, just as the Starbird struck an object, causing the inside to lurch and shake a bit; the orange glow that briefly permeated the side windows confirming that the satellite they had been targeting was destroyed. The two pilots then turned the Starbird down toward the Earth, picking up speed and developing the fire associated with reentry.

“Staarla, get Elizabeth and the others back on,” Kim ordered.

|Complying|

Staarla said.

“Elizabeth, can you hear us? We destroyed the weapon and the satellite. Is Kenny okay?” Carol asked.

“We’re not sure,” Elizabeth said. “We’re still unable to telepathically talk to him.”

“Is TIM able to send the coordinates on his location? We can pick his group up,” Kim added.

“Him, Dana, and Joseph are underneath the Next Phase Foundation facility in Frankfurt, Germany,” Elizabeth said.

Stephen interrupted. “Kim, Kenny said that Dana had found John. He’s in the building somewhere.”

“Okay, we’re going to head down and get him out of there,” Warren said with strong conviction.

The group in the Lab looked at each other with hopeful expectancy. 

“Right, we’ll jaunt there and find Kenny and the others. Stay in touch,” Elizabeth said.

They heard both Warren and Kim give them an affirmative as they quickly realized their course of action.

“Mike, you can stay behind if you want. I know your sister takes priority. The rest of us, take stun guns; Alexio and Hans, go with Stephen in the equipment storage and retrieve a few stun rifles, we’ll need those too,” Elizabeth ordered.

“I’ll go Elizabeth. I know Autumn and Aisha will take care of them,” Mike said as he went to retrieve a stun gun.

“Are you sure you want all of us to go, Elizabeth?” Stephen asked.

“We have Autumn staying, whom I couldn’t ask for a better backup in case things get out of hand. But we’re going to need all of us to rescue John, Kenny, Dana, and Joseph. This could be our only chance to bring everyone back,” Elizabeth said.

“Okay, let’ get moving,” Stephen said as he went to catch up with Hans and Alexio.

***

Next Phase Foundation  
Frankfurt, Germany

Jedikiah couldn’t help but smile at the activity of the past five minutes. He looked at Dr. Suarez, who was already readying her written announcement, to be taken by her associate who was patiently waiting.

“Dr. Suarez, I believe this is where we will have to part for the time being,” Jedikiah said.

“Yes. Just remember our agreement, Jedikiah. I expect to be well compensated for my capital losses,” Dr. Suarez said.

“I have no doubt, that Douglas Harm will prompt appropriate payment. I have come to the understanding that he makes due his obligations,” Jedikiah said.

He watched as she gave the order to an associate, who immediately gave the announcement to have everyone to proceed calmly to evacuate the building, under the pretense of a monthly required fire drill.

Jedikiah meanwhile regarded John, slumped in his chair, trying desperately to stay awake and coherent. 

“You…won’t get away with this, Jedikiah,” John slurred and droned.

“Sounds like he’s ready for my cocktail,” Dr. Suarez remarked as she held up a syringe.

Jedikiah smirked at Dr. Suarez. “You may do the honors, as a token of good faith on my part, and Douglas Harm’s.”

Dr. Suarez wasted no time prepping the syringe. She immediately injected the contents into John’s neck, who flinched at its cold and sterile contact. Jedikiah closed the distance between him and John, their faces just inches apart.

“Well John. I can’t say I’ll miss our…torturous conversations. But I’ll be sure to tell your friends what we discussed when I see them next time. We’ll drop in at the family home with some housewarming gifts within the day.” 

“Piss off, Jedikiah,” John practically growled out.

“The telepaths are on their way, I’m sure. I just need to wait and take a few with me to ensure completion of the plan,” Jedikiah said, smiling with the knowledge that he had defeated John.

“Well, good luck then; you better hope they come before this building goes the way of the dodo,” Dr. Suarez said.

“You know I don’t believe in luck, Eris,” Jedikiah said with a menacing tone.

Dr. Suarez stepped on the matter transporter. “Regardless, it has been a pleasure. I look forward to working with you again, soon. Until then, I take my leave of you, Doctor Jedikiah Sye N’astirh.”

“As I, you…Doctor Valeria Suarez,” Jedikiah said as she disappeared from view. 

Jedikiah went to a nearby control console and typed in the necessary sequence of buttons. Soon, a familiar face came up.

“Dr. Menze, it looks like the plan has been moved up a bit, I trust you have everything in order and standing by regarding our main guest at the South Pacific facility?”

“Everything is set and being put into motion. As you know, there’s only worry about the matter transporter. The team is not sure we’ll have the energy to use it for too much longer,” Dr. Menze said.

“We only need to use it for a handful of times at the most. Make sure everyone that are prepped for battle are at standby. There are still just a few players I’m requiring before we send them on their way,” Jedikiah said.

“I shall let them know to expect you momentarily, Jedikiah.”

Jedikiah shut off the console and quick paced to the nearby elevator. Arriving near the bottom of the facility, the elevator doors swung open and he quickly made his way to the storage area. Checking the doors on either side, he closed them and walked purposely to the other side of the spacious room, careful to not disturb the contents within the various glass containers which were scattered throughout the area, and taking a seat near the matter transporter, waiting expectantly.

***

|My sensors indicate this building is rigged to blow up utilizing a type of liquid that is activated when it reaches to a certain temperature|

Staarla said as the Starbird hovered just a few inches over the roof, chameleon image on so nobody from the air or ground would see this aerial craft.

Warren and Kim were halfway out their seat when Carol stopped them.

“What gives, Carol?” Warren said.

“Elizabeth and the others are on the ground floor somewhere. There’s going to be enough of us inside. Andrew, Jennifer, Maeve, Muirne and myself will search for John. I need you two to stay here and help Staarla find John through whatever means electronically, to help guide us to him; and to get this craft going at a moment’s notice. I’m making an ambassadorial decision, and you will acknowledge my command,” Carol ordered.

“You’re pushing it, Carol,” Warren irritatingly replied.

“We’ll take care of it, Ambassador. Go and get John out of there,” Kim spoke.

Carol smiled an affirmation as she quickly followed the rest.

On the ground level, Elizabeth and the others had arrived and quickly found Kenny and Joseph helping to lead Dana out from the tunnels. Her powers had settled down by then, but she was still going on about how she could find John and that they should allow her to lead them back to where she was certain he was at.

[Elizabeth, Stephen, can you hear me? Have you arrived?]

[We hear you Carol. We’re here]

Stephen said.

[We need for you to get the remainder of the people out of the building. Staarla has discovered that the whole structure is rigged to blow up at any minute]

Carol said.

[Is there any way for us to turn the bombs off?]

Stephen asked.

[Staarla says there are too many of them. They seem to be placed in strategic spots to bring the entire structure down]

Carol said.

Dana was sure she was getting an image of John, seeing through his eyes. While the older Tomorrow People were getting information from her sister, she quickly pulled Hans and Alexio to her. 

“Dana, what – “Hans exclaimed.

“Listen to me. I’m going to telepathically send you an image. I can’t read what it says on the door, can you see it?”

Both Hans and Alexio received Dana’s images before they could respond, clutching at their heads at the abrupt telepathic sending. 

“Dana, you gotta stop. Too much,” Alexio said as he struggled with the intense images in his mind.

Dana apologized and suggested they utilize a telepathic link to try and stay on top of the speed and intensity the images were coming. After a short time, they were able to make out what the words and visuals of where John could be.

“Looks like the second floor, if I’m reading it right,” Hans said.

“I’m seeing it now,” Dana said. “We jaunt in there and get him out.”

“What about Elizabeth’s order to stay where we are?” Hans said.

“Gotta go with the motions sometimes, Hans,” Alexio said.

“This is some rescue,” Hans grumbled as he imitated the actions of his friends and disappeared from the area.

“Dana! Alexio…where are you?” Stephen said as he noticed his charges were not where they were expected to be.

[We’ve jaunted into the building. We’re on the same floor as John, we’re going to get him out and find my sister and the others]

Dana said.

“I can’t believe this, they were supposed to stay put,” Elizabeth said in annoyance.

“No!” Stephen quickly said. “It’s alright.”

[Dana, Hans, Alexio…you three hurry up and get John to the others. You know what you need to do]

Stephen said.

Stephen and the rest of the group heard all three voices confirm Stephen’s order and assured them they would follow his words to the letter.

“You sure you’re not pushing them too hard, Stephen?” Mike asked.

“They’re no older than we were when we had to utilize action to get the goal accomplished,” Stephen said.

“Right then. So, before we help out,” Elizabeth said as she turned to Joseph. “TIM, matter transport Joseph back to the Lab.”

Joseph was at that time protesting about being sent away, his voice fading as he disappeared from their view.

“Hoping we don’t have to deal with any medusas in the meantime. Okay everyone, let’s get busy,” Elizabeth ordered.

Stephen and Mike secured their stun guns and then jaunted to the Next Phase Foundation facility to assist the people coming out the building and getting them to safety before the building collapsed.

Dana, Hans, and Alexio were on the same floor which they knew John was on. Hans turned a corner and almost collided with a medusa, already expanded into its self-defense mode, readying for attack. Hans yelled and told the others behind him to back up.

“We can’t. We have to move forward, we know John isn’t back from where we just came from,” Alexio said as he readied his stun rifle.

Hans’s eyes went wide-eyed as he remembered he was also carrying the same type of weapon as Alexio was. 

Alexio primed the rifle and fired a shot at the medusa, causing it to be pushed down the hallway, slamming through the doors and dropping down the stairs beyond. Alexio was ready to fire again at another medusa but the creature decided it had seen enough and went down the opposite direction, away from them, seemingly screaming in their minds.

“I still can’t access my special powers, there must be more of them around that we can’t see,” Dana said.

“Then we better get through these doors and hope John is in one of them,” Alexio said.

The three telepaths continued to bang on the doors. Some were unlocked, but a few were locked and try as they might, they could not get them to open, even after flinging themselves into it.

“These doors are not the ones that collapse in the movies,” Hans said as he rubbed the shoulder he had used to try to break through the door.

“Let’s use the stun rifles to blow the doors back then,” Alexio said.

“No!” Dana cried out drawing pause from the two teens. “If John is in front of any of them, he could be hurt. If we don’t have our special powers, then he doesn’t and he won’t be able to telekinetically keep the door from hitting him.”

Hans suddenly slung his weapon off his shoulder and used the butt of the rifle to break the knob. He yelled an incoherent phrase as he used the butt again and slammed it into the door, causing it to open. 

“John!” Hans cried out as he recognized the figure in the chair.

“You two go get him, I’ll blow back these medusas,” Alexio said as two more of those creatures had come around the corner to confront them.

Dana stood for just a second as Alexio readied himself to take on the creatures, fear threatening to overwhelm her again, before getting a hold of herself and focused on the task at hand. She quickly came upon Hans as he was untying John, who seemed to be rambling about something. Dana could barely make out the words ‘Jedikiah’ and ‘lighthouse.’

“He’s a bit worse for wear,” Hans remarked as he released the final bond which kept John in place.

Dana looked at John’s face, wondering if he would recognize her. “John, can you hear me? C’mon you prim and proper telepath. John, answer me!”

John looked dazed and seemed like he was coming off some type of drug-induced high as he squinted in Dana’s direction, as if attempting to verify that she was real.

“Dana,” John looked to his left and noticed a boy who also looked familiar. “Hans?”

Hans couldn’t help but smile at John’s recognition of him. “C’mon, we’re getting you outta here.”

The two young teens grasped John on either side of him and helped him to the door. To the left, Alexio was still working on beating back the two medusas, who had been joined by a third. 

“These guys aren’t scared like the first two,” Alexio said. “Move to the other door, I’ll be right behind you.”

“We got no choice, it’s the only way out,” Hans quickly pointed out while following Alexio’s orders.

Dana nodded as she followed his lead as they continued to assist John, keeping him upright so he could walk. Suddenly, the door burst open and both telepaths were shocked to see Maeve and Muirne coming through, with Andrew moving ahead of them and fired some type of new weapon at the creatures in front of Alexio, causing them to immediately stop and slowing shrink down to their non-defensive size.

Carol and Jennifer quickly came up to their sister. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Help me get John out of here,” Dana said.

Maeve and Muirne came up from behind and took John into their arms and helped guide him through the doors they just came from.

“Good to see you two,” Hans said.

“You also!” Muirne said over her shoulder.

Andrew came back with Alexio and gave the extra weapon back to Hans.

“We should get back to the top, this area must be filled with medusas. We can’t access our special powers here,” Andrew said.

Carol nodded quickly. “Right, everybody goes, now. We don’t have time for anything else. There are bombs rigged here and Staarla believes they’ve been activated. We can jaunt as soon as we feel our powers returning.”

As soon as Carol finished her sentence, an abrupt loud bang was heard, followed by rumbling and debris. Carol tried to use her special powers but still couldn’t get them to work. She realized she had fallen on the floor, along with Andrew and Jennifer. She could hear footsteps coming up to her and hands reaching down to help her up; so her assumption was, until Maeve started to pull on her feet, dragging her the opposite way of where she was facing. It wasn’t until she stopped that she quickly got up and realized why Maeve had went for this action. Everything in front of them in the hallway was filled with electric wires, all live, and blocking her from her sister, Hans and Alexio. She was getting ready to move forward but parts of the ceiling overhead continued to collapse, making the area even more dangerous; and without their telekinesis, there would be no way to keep everything from collapsing.

“Are you alright?” Dana yelled anxiously.

“We are, we are,” Carol said firmly as she absently brushed herself off.

For a second, everyone could only look at each other, frustratingly realizing they could not cross over.

Andrew quickly came up. “You guys need to head downstairs. The medusas are out of it for a bit and they won’t bother you. As soon as you have your powers, jaunt back to Elizabeth and the others.”

Hans and Alexio were ready and waiting on Dana, who couldn’t help but look at her two older sisters. 

“We’ll see you soon,” Jennifer said.

“Mein Gott, Dana, c’mon, we gotta go before the whole place collapses,” Hans said.

Dana looked at Hans and Alexio, as if coming out of a trance. “Right. Let’s go!”

Dana took one last look at her sisters, who sent her reassuring facial responses, before running to catch up with her friends. 

Carol and Jennifer continued to look down the hall until they could see their sister no more, before finally heeding Andrew’s shout for them to evacuate. It was harder than it seemed because John was barely able to walk along with Maeve and Muirne. However, after a few more minutes, he was at least able to keep pace with them. He was still attempting to talk to them about something related to Jedikiah but still, nobody could understand him.

Another explosion rumbled from within the building, causing Carol to worry before realizing that it had come from up above, from an area they had no need to go to. 

“I’m feeling my special powers coming back,” Maeve said.

“Same here,” Muirne said. “John’s starting to feel much lighter.

[Warren, Kim…we’re almost there. We have John]

[[Great!]]

Warren and Kim pathed their response at the same time.

“Shouldn’t we just jaunt in the ship?” Jennifer asked.

“No,” Carol said. “Only because I’m unsure how John’s body would take it. We have no idea what he’s been through. 

[Elizabeth, we have John. If your group is doing okay, we’re going to head straight back to the Lab. He’s looking like he’s been living rough] 

[Thank goodness. We’ve been getting unexpected help from Tricia and everyone has evacuated. Just get out of there. The whole structure is on the verge of collapsing]

Elizabeth said.

[Make sure my sister, Alexio, and Hans are safe. We were forced to split up and they had to run downstairs without their special powers]

Carol said with anxiousness in her telepathic tone.

[We’ll be on the lookout for them. I’m sure they’ll jaunt once they realize they have their special powers back. Still, I’ll have TIM home in on their jaunting bands and jaunt them back to the Lab]

Elizabeth said.

[We’ll see all of you soon]

Carol said as she continued to ascend the stairs to the waiting Starbird.

Elizabeth quickly got a hold of TIM, ordering him to get a fix on Dana, Han, and Alexio’s jaunting bands.

|Certainly, just give me a few seconds. Whatever is in the building is blocking access to the inside|

Dana, Hans and Alexio had finally made it to the ground floor and passed what looked to be a storage area. Hans stopped as he thought he heard sounds coming from within.

“What’s wrong?” Alexio said.

“I heard people in there, I’m sure,” Hans said as he tried to open the door.

Alexio immediately used the stun rifle to push the door open. All quickly went inside, eager to help whoever within and to get them out to safety. Instead, they slowed their course, realizing who they were trying to rescue.

“Attempt to leave and I will have these medusas kill you where you stand, Tomorrow People. Drop your weapons,” Jedikiah said in his usual menacingly way.

Alexio was getting ready to ignore the villain’s request but Hans put his hand over his weapon, pointing out the medusa within each of the glass bottles which had been situated all around them. Alexio gave Hans a look before reluctantly dropping the weapon to the floor. Hans also relinquished his weapon as Dana unholstered her stun gun, tossing it to the ground.

“Now. You can either argue with me and die underneath a collapsing building, or you can come with me and be matter transported to a more, safer and friendlier environment,” Jedikiah said. “Either way, I will survive.”

The three telepaths noticed the device Jedikiah held in his hand, as if to show them that he could leave unscathed…with or without them. A few more explosions caught their ear and a continued rumbling sound started to become louder. Realizing they had no choice, and without access to their special powers, they proceeded to come toward Jedikiah, stepping on the matter transporter underneath them. They continued to eye him with suspicious looks.

“Wise choice, my young telepaths,” Jedikiah said as he flipped the switch, just as another explosion came through the storage area itself.

|Making contact, now!|

TIM proclaimed.

Outside, Elizabeth, Mike, Stephen, and Tricia looked on as the remains of the collapsing Next Phase facility came crashing to the ground, people were hurriedly leaving the vicinity to avoid any debris and the massive dust which was rapidly accumulating and spreading out. 

[TIM, please say you were able to jaunt those three back to the Lab?]

Stephen asked.

|As I was starting to jaunt them back, my telepathic lock was interrupted. I can confirm, they are no longer in the building. The coordinates were for them to appear in the Lab, it is possible the coordinates became generalized and they could be on the estate somewhere. I will telepathically scan for them|

[Okay, thanks TIM. We’re on our way, maybe some of those effects from the medusas are blocking some of their telepathic presence. We’ll search physically if we need to]

Stephen said.

“What was it about this explosion that could cause TIM’s telepathic lock to go wacky?” Mike asked curiously.

“Who knows what was in that Next Phase Foundation, Mike. I’m just grateful we got John back…I’m pleased that we’re all back. Let’s get to the Lab and help Aisha get it prepped for when Dr. Wilson arrives. I want Evergreen and Ann purged of those medusa toxins,” Elizabeth said.

“Were all the medusas inside?” Tricia asked, looking at the destruction of where the building formerly stood.

Elizabeth sighed. “We can only hope.”

The foursome looked around to make sure nobody was looking in their direction, before jaunting out of view.

Havenshire Castle  
Northern Scotland  
The Lab

Still unknown if any type of jaunting would hurt John, the crew had to maintain their chameleon shielding and touchdown directly in front of the castle itself. Everyone who had traveled within the Starbird took their leave quickly, assisting John down the ramp as they led him into the castle. Kim and Warren stayed in the aerial craft to park it in the cave, before finally jaunting into the Lab. Warren in particular was concerned for his longtime friend, who had been in Jedikiah’s presence for far too long.

In the meantime, Elizabeth and Stephen were attempting to bring John toward TIM, as the biotronic computer had detected a tracking device of some kind somewhere on John’s person. He needed John at a specific close distance so he could disarm and discontinue the signal it was sending out of their position location. 

There was controlled chaos going on in the Lab, made even more anxious when the Starbird crew came inside with John. Dr. Wilson demanded everyone, except for the few people she needed to assist her, to remain outside the medical area as TIM automatically made the clear windows tinted to give his patients the privacy they needed. John had gotten more coherent and more vocally active as the minutes went on. 

For the majority of the ride back, Dr. Wilson had been maintaining access to Garth’s information about his bacterium. Because there had been no time limit countdown, she was determined to just leave the information open on the Starbird, as fear of turning it off would prompt the data to either shut down or be erased, as Garth threatened it would. During the trip, she compared the viopath’s information with what was utilized from Federation Medical, and what she was able to gather from the small biological samples from the various medusas that had been attacking for the past week. She was hoping she retained the correct number of compounds needed to help fight whatever was affecting Ann and Evergreen.

“Why don’t you confirm your notes with what’s on the data cube?” Aisha asked.

“We were warned that access to the information was on a time limit. We weren’t told what that time limit was. Okay, here we have it,” Dr. Wilson said as she held up the syringes, with what she hoped, would be the cure for them. 

Having already been given consent by the parents during the controlled hustle of retrieving the compounds from the Starbird, Dr. Kartika Wilson injected the contents of one syringe into Ann; she then used the second syringe to inject its identical contents into Evergreen. There was no clue of what would happen afterwards, so now all that was left was to wait. Since there was nothing more to do and with the parents in a calm, but anticipatory anxious state, she went over to help John.

***

South Pacific Island

Dana felt warmth on her face, which she felt was unusual, in that this wasn’t the season to feel humid high temperature everywhere, not in Northern Scotland anyhow. She opened her eyes and focused on what was in front of her…sand. Remembering the past few hours, she quickly rose her head up to get a better view of where she was. The sight of the ocean made her physically pause, feeling uncharacteristic shock at where she was. The first thought which came to her mind was a quote from one of her favorite movies.

Looks like we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

She glanced around, quickly looking for her companions, whom she saw a short distance away. She also heard a loud noise coming from the tree line. It had sounded quite inhuman and it literally freaked her out, until she began to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. The noise came about again, and seemed to be coming closer…and closer…closer…

***

Havenshire Castle  
The Lab

The medical part of the Lab had descended into chaos as the parents were panicked with the turn for the worse their children were going through. While it seemed Dr. Wilson’s treatment was working, Ann and Evergreen had suddenly begun to physically have episodes, their forced breakout seemed to returning. It was with such intensity that Dr. Wilson was sure that they couldn’t possibly survive. While the telepaths were attempting to keep the kids from failing, while at the same time keeping the adults from harming them, Dr. Wilson grabbed the data cube and pushed it into the computer. Immediately the information came up on her screen, but something new had covered over it…words of a time limit which would be reached within the hour. Dr. Wilson was fine with that, as she had a suspicion she knew where she had gone wrong due to the extreme physical tiredness she was forced to adhere to earlier, when retrieving the information while on the Starbird.

“Hold on just a little longer, I’m almost to the point where I need to second check. I’m sure of it. Aisha, make another vial with what I’ve done before, but don’t put them in the syringes just yet,” Dr. Wilson ordered her daughter.

“On it!” Aisha responded.

Dr. Kartika Wilson continued to focus on her destination, keeping the loud and vocal chaos away from her progress. 

Almost there, almost there…got it, what……NO!!

The physician had barely found what she had been looking for when the information on the screen abruptly went into a visual of symbols and digits which she was unfamiliar with. Kartika was a visual representation of an intense emotion of anger bottled up, as she slowly rose up from her chair. She knew if she exploded out her anger and frustration, it would all be over for everyone in the room emotionally. She could only put her hand to her mouth in terror and anguish as she silently and inwardly called that viopath a bastard for playing with people’s lives by withholding information needed to save them. She looked back once more, seeing that the information was gone, only a white visual flashing on and off, alternating with a red background.

They’re going to die because I wasn’t focused enough. Oh my God.

Kartika noticed Aisha looking at the screen and then back at her. At that moment, Dr. Wilson resolved to do everything she could as she was at that point where anything was better than doing nothing.

“Aisha, grab Andrew and get him in here to work on Garth’s data. See if he can find a way to overcome the corruption that’s come. Hurry!”

Aisha didn’t need to be a telepath to realize that her mother was doing everything in her power to not become overwhelmed with what was happening. She immediately went to get Andrew. On her way, she passed by John, who was still being physically manic; Elizabeth, Stephen, and Warren attempting to keep him reigned in.

“John, you need to calm down. You’re freed!” Elizabeth said in a much louder voice than she was used to.  
Elizabeth felt like she was continuingly fighting to keep John from hurting himself, or the others. By his ramblings, it was almost like he didn’t believe he was among his friends. It was at that moment that she discovered something else about John, a dreadful feeling she was all too familiar with of late.  
“Stephen, Warren…I can’t sense John like I usually do…I can’t hear his surface thoughts.”  
Stephen and Warren quickly used their telepathy to talk to John, but their friend wasn’t responding, still in an incoherent state, rambling and fretful.  
“Damn, what did Jedikiah do to him?” Warren said angrily as he gripped his friend’s arms.

“His special powers are gone,” Stephen said in shocked despair.

John was fighting to come out of his haze. “No, you don’t understand. I told them where we are, they know about the Lighthouse…..I’ve betrayed you all! Jedikiah and his minions are coming to Havenshire…they’re coming to Havenshire, now!”

John finally slumped in their protected arms, as the three telepaths could only look upon their powerless friend in distress and anguish.

TO BE CONCLUDED


End file.
